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TREATISE 


ON 


* 


DIY ENE “UNIO, 


DESIGNED TO POINT OUT SOME OF THE 


INTIMATE RELATIONS BETWEEN GOD AND MAN 


IN THE 


HIGHER FORMS OF RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE. 


BY THOMAS C. UPHAM, D.D. 


PROFESSOR OF MENTAL AND MORAL PHILOSOPHY IN BOWDOIN COLLEGE, MAINF. 


BOSTON: 


‘PUBLISHED BY HENRY V. DEGEN. 
No. 7 Cornhill. 


1852. 


Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1851, 
; BY THOMAS O. UPHAM, 
In the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the District of Maine. 


Stereotyped by 
HOBART & ROBBINS; 
NEW ENGLAND TYPE AND STEREOTYPE FOUNDERYy, 
BOSTON. 


PRESS OF GEO. C. RAND & CO., 3 CORNHILL. 


TO THE READER. 


Ture are some things in the following pages 
which may seem difficult to be understood, and per- 
haps still more so to be received; but all I can ask 
is, that they may be read in that spirit of simplicity 
and prayer in which, I trust, they have been writ- 
ten. I have no private or party interests to sub- 
serve; but only wish to do what I may seem, in the 
providence of God, called to do, for that cause of 
Christ, of God, and humanity, which is dearer to me 
than anything else. And this isa consolation which 
always attends me, — the full belief that the truth 
will live and do the good which is appropriate to it, 
and that all error will and must die. 

Some of the principles which are laid down in 
these pages will be found in other writers. They 
are clearly sustained by some passages in St. Au- 
eustine, and in other writers of an early date. They 
harmonize with many views and expressions which 
are found in the devout writings of Thauler and 
Arndt. The well-known and much esteemed trea- 
tise of Scougal, entitled, ‘‘ The Life of God in the 
Soul of Man,” intimates its leading ideas in its title. 
The object of this writer, although he takes a more ~ 


4 TO THE READER. 


limited view of the subject, appears to be much 

the same with that which is aimed at in the present 

work. The view which is taken of the nature of 

pure or holy love, namely, that in its basis it is the 

love of existence, (a doctrine to which some, who 

have not reflected much on the subject, may have 

objections,) does not essentially differ, I believe, 

from that which is presented by President Edwards, 

in his Treatise on the Nature of Virtue. All those- 
writers, of various denominations of Christians, who 

hold to the doctrine of sanctification in the present 
life, as a thing provided for and attainable, agree 

more or less with what is here said. But:this would 
afford but little satisfaction, if I did not fully believe 

that it is also in accordance with the Bible. 

It is generally conceded among Christians that a 
better day is approaching, and the great character- 
istic of that day will be, and must be, practical holi- 
‘ness. So that holiness of heart and life, as a matter 
of personal realization, is brought closely home to 
all. Let us, therefore, in the expressive language 
of Scripture, stand ‘‘with our loins girt about with 
truth, and having on the breastplate of righteous- 
ness.’” Perhaps we may be called to endure trials ; 
but we should not forget that truth emerges safely 
from its conflicts, and that virtue is not destroyed, 
but only purified, by suffering. All things will be 
well, when God dwells in man. 

Lo; UG: 

Bowdoin College, Jan. 1, 1851. 


CONTENTS. 


PART FIRST. 


OF GOD, AND THE RELATIONS HE SUSTAINS TO HIS CREATURES. 


CHAP. PAGE 
I.—On the Nature of Divine Union, ..- +--+ ++++2ee88 1 
Tl. —On the Eternity of God, ». - +--+ ee ee tees ae an 
Tl. — On the Omnipresence of God, . +--+ ++ ++ etre re ee 
TV. On the Greatness and Supremacy of God,. . - ++ > ee AD 
V.—On the Relation of the Uncreated to the Created,. » +++ + > 21 
VI. —Summary of some Leading Principles, . +--+ ++++s> . 26 


PART SECOND. 


4 


ON FAITH, AND THE UNION OF GOD AND MAN IN FAITH. 


I. — On Faith as an Element of the Divine Nature, os scoltpe dees 32 
II. —On Faith as the Constitutive Element of Human and Divine 
Mathie COT RT ES Et ged ia able lata tee 38 
TI. —On the relation of the Work of Christ to the Restoration of 
Why oo ohn ak jain © ori aay © Pat ie gel colts set enka 42 
IV.—The Life of Faith in Distinction from the Life of Desire,. . . - 50 
V,—Of the Union of God and Manin Faith,. .. +++ -+++s BT 


PART THIRD. 


ON THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD, AND THE UNION OF GOD AND MAN 
IN KNOWLEDGE. 


I, —All Knowledge necessarily in God,. - + +++ > ~ ee ey 62 
TI. —Human Knowledge based upon the Divine, .. +++ - a et 3 69 
Til. — Characteristics of the Knowledge which isfrom God, ....- -75 
IV.—On the Gradual Development of Divine Knowledge, - +--+: - 81 
V.—On the Union of God and Man in Knowledge,. .-. +--+ -88 


6 CONTENTS. 


PART FOURTH. 


ON THE LOVE OF GOD, AND THE UNION OF GOD AND MAN IN LOVE. 
CHAP. PAGE 
I. —On the Nature of Pure or Holy Love, . ++ +++ ess . 94 
II. — On the Scripture Declaration, that God is Love,. - + ++ + 99 
III. —On the Love of Existence in Distinction from the Love of 


Character, « altos de ass eck leu deal eas) stags 105 

IV. — Thoughts on the Creation of Holy Existences,. - + + + . .109 
V.—On the Three Forms of Love ; namely, of Benevolence, of 

Complacency, and of Union,. «+++ ++ +eeec 114 

VI. — On the Union of God and Manin Love, .--+-++-+-+2-s 119 


VII, — On the Manifestations of Love in the Form of Sympathy, . 126. 
VIII. — On the Religion of Love as compared with the Religion of 


Obbicetion, 12 oie ive uaateine, eceiad Qe lay ey likes Tha tend 130 
TX.—The Union of God with Man in Love excludes all Idola- 
trous Love of the Creatures, . - - ++ e+ see 2 ee > 135 


PART FIFTH. 


ON THE WILL OF GOD, AND THE UNION OF THE DIVINE AND HUMAN 
WILL. 


I. — On the Relation of the Will of God with other parts of the 
Diem Neti :, Venaehs ae oilh Fe peek e Ps Mere pe Seem 6 140 
II, —On the Perpetual Identity of the Divine Will,. .+ +++. 145 
Til. — On the Natural and Moral Supremacy of the Divine will, - 150 


IV.—On the Union of the Human and Divine Will, ..-..-- 153 
V.—On the Different Degrees of Union with the Will of God, . . 160 
VI. — On Training the Will to Habits of Subjection, ot Ve 163 
VII. —On-the Relation of Suffering to Union, . . - + + ++ + +s 167 

VIII. — Illustrations of the Relation between God and Man, by the 
* Relative Position of Man and Child, ..+.+++-+-s-. 178 


PART SIXTH. 


ON THE UNION OF MAN WITH GOD IN HIS PROVIDENCES. 


I. — On the True Idea of Providence, and its Extent, ....- 183 
II. — On the Law of Providence in Distinction from the General 
Nature or Fact of Providence,. . + + +++ sees . 198 
TII. — On the Strictness of the Retributions of the Law of Provi- 
Genser ss TAS er ees Peete Ole ow « . 199 


IV.— Of Providence in Connection with Man’s Situation in Life, . 206 


CONTENTS. 7 


HAP. Pas 
--'¥.—On the Wisdom and Goodness of God, as displayed in his 

Providential Arrangements, . . - + «+ + + + © o © » 212 

VI. — On the Relation of Providence to Spiritual Growth, . . . .219 

VII. — On the Law of Providence in Relation to Simplicity of Spirit, 223 

VIU.— Of the Union of God and Man in Providence,. . . . » « . 228 
IX. — Relation of Harmony with Providence to the Order and Dis- 

order which exist in the World, . . . «2 ee © © «© © 2 204 

X.— Illustrations of Interior or Spiritual Solitude, . . ...- . . 238 

XI. — Of the Spirit or Life which is the basis of this Union, . . . 244 


PART SEVENTH. 
UNION WITH GOD IN THE WORK OF MAN’S REDEMPTION. 


I. —On the Successive Developments of the Plan of Redemption, 252 
Il. — Of the Three Forms of Redemption — Physical, Mental and 


Bocials Tos. 6 i eo a Pres Ma ee ee te aes Ae ae 

Ill. —Of Union with God in the Work of Mental or Personal Re- 
GEMPUON,. . .« hich Fs A ARE) oan 2 +o be . 269 

IV. — Of Union with God in the Work of Redemption in relation to 
DUM se coe eo ss a aoe 4 OR ad @ ME ac @Uer ay abae 277 

V.— Of Union with God in the Observance and the Duties of the 
Rartettiig! So TI PR ae eT Sg Pt aS » . 285 

VI. —Of Union with God in the Redemption and Sanctification of 
Aho Familiy? BAP OO. Re Ns BP 280 

VI. — Of Union with God in the Work of Civil and National Re- 
Catantion ys OBC CR ae SPS TYR. Pe os 315 

VUI.— On Union with God in the Redemption of the Arts and 
Tdteradure je See ee 2 ot ee eee ak eee 329 


. IX.—On the Nature and Practical Extent of the Power of Love, .345 
X.—Principles and Explanations on the Subject of Practical Holi- 

TERS, 6 eo oS EOS a gy ee 354 

XI. — On the Union of Man with God in the Spirit of paiva - . 362 
XI. — On the Relation of the Character of Man to the Happiness of 

Cet Ac Ge wip are &: tre: 3) 6. & Sree a ie 368 


PART EIGHTH. 
OF THE PEACE OR REST OF THE SOUL IN A STATE OF UNION. 


I,.—On the True Idea of a Soul at Rest, ee ee @ @ @ 4 a 7,0 © 373 
I, — The Soul in Union rests from Reasonings, ....... «379 
I. —The Soul in Union rests from Desires, . . .. - 6». - 384 


8 CONTENTS. 


CHAP PAGE 


V.— The Soul in Union rests from Disquieting Fears, .... .393 


IV. — The Soul in Union rests from the Reproofs of Conscience, . . 889 


VI.— The Soul in Union rests from Conflicts with Providence, . .397 


VII. —The Soul in Union rests from the Anxieties of Labor, .. .402 
VIII. — The holy Soul has Peace, because what it wants in itself it 


mehnds in Gd; ew cr ete Gees se ee > site on 
IX.—The holy Soul has Peace, because its action is natural and 
WIGNOUG CHOLES 6 eels sacks eae ae ol 8 CME ‘ - 413 


X.— The Soul in Union with God has Rest, because it has eae 
from the Meditative to the Contemplative State, ... .419 

XI. — Of the Spirit and Practical Course of the Man who is at rest 
Or WOthors ails, 4k Borde dan is at al ove bp. foes oe « 0425 
XII. — The Soul in Peace is the true Kingdom of God, . .... .480 


PART FIRST. 


OF GOD, AND THE RELATIONS HE SUSTAINS TO HIS CREA- 
TURES. 


COE Ait ol Pa deal he 


ON THE NATURE OF DIVINE UNION. 


All original-life in God. — The life which is not from God, not life, but death. 
—Of the union of God and man. — The basis of this union to be found 
in God’s nature. —Of the different kinds or forms of union. — Union of 
pacification, of alliance, of nature. 


From God all things come. ‘To God, as the universal 
originator and governor, all things are in subjection. In 
ascertaining what God is, we necessarily ascertain the 
position and responsibilities of those beings that come 
from God, and are dependent on him. The life of his 
moral creatures, so far as it is a right and true life, is 
a reproduction, in a finite form, of the elements of his 
own life. ‘God created man in his own image. In 
the image of God created he him.” Gen. 1: 27. The 
Saviour, in speaking of himself, in his incarnate state, 
says, “I am in the Father, and the Father in me.” 
John 13: 11. God, in carrying out and perfecting the 
great idea of a moral creation, subjects the infinity of 
his being to the limitations of humanity, and reproduces 
himself in the human soul. So that man’s life may 
truly be described, as God’s life in humanity. 

2. Nor, in the strict sense of the terms, can any- 


2 DIVINE UNION. 


thing but the Divine Lars, or the life of God in the soul, 
be called life. Those who have gone astray from God, 
just so far as they have lost the divine life, and have 
sunk into the natural life, are dead. Hence, the expres- 
sions of the apostle: —‘“ And you hath he quickened, 
who were dead in trespasses and sins.” Ephes. 2: 1. 
The eternal vitality, the breath from the Infinite, the 
life of God in the soul, ceases to be in them. And being 
dead, by the absence of God as an indwelling principle, 
they must be recreated, or born again, by his restoration. 
It is not enough, that provision has been made, in the 
death of Christ, for man’s forgiveness. Forgiveness, it 
is true, has its appropriate work. It cancels the iniquity 
of the past; but this is not all that is necessary. It is 
not without reason, that the learned Schlegel commences 
his profound work on the philosophy of history by 
saying, that “the most important subject, and the first 
problem of philosophy, is the restoration in man of the 
lost image of God.” The immortal nature must be 
made anew, must be re-constituted, if we may so express 
it, on the principle of life linked with life, of the created 
sustained in the uncreated, in the bonds of divine union. 

3. In entering, therefore, upon the important subject 
of Divine Union, by which we mean the union of God 
‘ with man, and of man with God, we must first direct 
our attention to the central truth, to which reference has 
already been made, and consider what God is. It is in 
God’s nature, in what he is and what he requires, that 
the basis of union must be placed. 

Before doing this, however, it is proper to make a few 
remarks, in explanation of that state of mind, and of 
that position of things, which are implied in that union 
of God and man, which is the topic of this treatise. 
And we proceed to remark, in the first place, that the 


| 
; 
: 
: 


- 


CHARACTER OF GOD. 3 


union, which ought to be established between God and 
man, and which the Gospel of Christ proposes to restore, 
is not merely an union of pacification. Maun is now at 
war with his Maker. War cannot exist without divis- 
ion. ‘Those who are in_contest with each other, stanc 
‘apart, not only alienated in heart, but separated in posi- 
tion. It is thus with God and man, while man remains 
a sinner. When man ceases to contend, he is brought 
into union. But it is only the union of pacification. 
And it is not enough. 

4. We remark again, that the union, which the 
mediatorial agency of the Saviour proposes to restore, is 
not merely an union of alliance. ‘The first step is paci- 
fication. The two parties, God on the one side and man 
on the other, have entered into a pacificatory arrange- 
ment, by which it is agreed that man shall cease to 
rebel and to fight, and God shall cease to resist his 
wicked attempts and to punish. In addition to this, 
which is more an union or harmony of position than of 
feelings, man is willing to unite his efforts in carrying 
out the divine plans. God condescends to accept these 
indications and movements of return;—and thus there 
is constituted the additional union of alliance. 

5. Both steps, it must be admitted, are very impor- 
tant. What can be more wise in man, than to lay down 
the weapons of his warfare? . What can be more pleasing, 
than to see him uniting his efforts in the promotion of 
God’s cause in the world? It would be difficult to ex- 
aggerate the beneficial results which necessarily flow from 
these forms of union. All who come to God must pass 
through them. But, in passing through them, they 
cannot attain the highest ends of their being, without 
going further. 

And the reason is, that these two fornis of union, 


4 DIVINE UNION. 


although they exclude the idea of hostility, are consistent 


with, and imply, the existence of two parties ;— each 


occupying his own position, and sustained in his own 
strength. Itis true they have ceased to contend. It is 
‘;ue, also, they have entered into alliance with each 
other. But still, even under these more favorable cir- 
cumstances, it cannot be said of man, in relation to God, 
as was said by the Saviour, in relation to his heavenly 
Father, “‘I and my Father are one.” The prayer of 
the Saviour, ‘‘ As thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, 
that they also may be one in us,” has not been fulfilled. 
There is still a point of union which has not been 
reached. Something more is necessary. 

6. Union, therefore, as we desire to develop it in this 
treatise, is not merely a treaty of peace, nor even the 
closer compact of alliance; but a combination or union 
of nature; not the union of juxta-position, but of filia- 
tion; not the union of convention, but the union of life. 

It is to this union that all who are born of God must 
at last come;—not uniting with God, as man unites 
conventionally with his fellow-man, in the formation of 
civil society, or for any other purpose, but with that 
union of life with life which binds together the father 
and the son. 

7. Undoubtedly it must be admitted that this union 
is not reached at once. At least this is not the general 
method of God’s operation. God works sradatim, step 
by step; by the gradualism of continually developed 
Jaw, and not by the impromptus and ejaculations of 
blind effort, without any wise and permanent principles 
as the foundation of effort. It is a great thing to begin 


to return; it is a much greater to complete the return. — 


It is a great thing even to look towards God with feel- 
ings of humility and faith. It is a much greater to find 


eS ee 


CHARACTER OF GOD. 5 


him, encouraged as it were by these solicitations of 
humble faith, approaching nearer and nearer, in the 
mild radiance of a reconciled divinity ;— melting away 
and removing, at every step of his approach, some envel- 
opment of selfishness, until, the doors of every faculty 
being open, he enters his own purified temple, and be- 
comes its everlasting centre. 


1* 


CHAPTER (IT. 


ON THE ETERNITY OF GOD. 


The principles of union with God, to be found in God’s nature. — On the 

eternity of God. — Results involved in the fact of God’s eternity. — The 

eternity of God involves his unchangeableness. — God, in being eternal, the 
source of all true life. — Remarks on man’s responsibility. : 


In proceeding in the investigation of the subject of 
union with God, it will be necessary, if we wish to arrive 
at satisfactory results, to consider briefly some of the 
leading elements, or principles, of the Divine Nature. 
We have already had occasion to say, that it is in God’s 
nature, in what he is and what he requires, that. the 
basis of union must be placed. It is obvious that there 
can be no union between two parties who are at variance, 
unless there be a change on one side or the other, or on 
both. But it is hardly necessary to say, that, on the 
side of God, it is impossible for any change to take place, 
except that of a just correspondence with the altered 
relations of the other party. The perfection of his posi- 


tion ensures its immutability. The change, preparatory 


to union, must first take place in man. What. this 
change must be, on what principles it must take place, 
in what directions it must extend, can be known only 
by what we know of God. 

2. Perhaps it may be said, that the powers of the 
human mind are so restricted that they will not allow 
us to comprehend God fully. Undoubtedly our concep- 


tion of him, based partly upon what is known, and 


CHARACTER OF GOD. 7 


hardly less upon what is unknown, is exceedingly im- 
perfect. But its imperfection is reduced, and we are 
’ able to approximate the higher and more perfect idea of 
God, in proportion as we divest it of the limitations of 
form, time, and place. God is not the possessor or sub- 
ject of any form, which is essential to him as an outward 
expression of his nature, although he may be said to live 
in all forms;— just as he is without a fixed and definite 
locality, although he may be said to be present in all 
places. And as he is not limited by form or by place, 
so he is not limited by time. 

3. We may be said, therefore, in entering upon the 
remarks which remain to be made in this chapter, to 
begin where there is no beginning. That which begins 
toexisthas a cause. That which exists without a cause 
is eternal. God only is without.cause. God only is 
eternal. 

Such is the great truth, which, in being connatural to 
the human mind, may be said to be written there by the 
pen of the Creator: a truth which is, to a considerable 
extent, the basis of natural religion, and is recognized by 
all sound philosophy. 

A, Gop onLy 1s ETERNAL. Such being the case, all 
things that exist out of himself, are, and must be, from 
him. ‘To say that a thing has its birth from the bosom 
of its own causation, is the same as to say that it exists 
withouta cause. And thisis inconceivable. All things, 
therefore, are, by the necessity of the case, in alliance 


-- with God;—the creatures of his divine and infinite 


administration ; springing up, in the appropriate day of 
their generation, from the Uncreated Life ; — the Life, 
which has been, now is, and will be everlasting. 

5. It is this truth which, more than anything else, 
makes the eternity of God a matter of so deep interest. 


8 DIVINE UNION. 


It is the eternity of God which constitutes him, in one of — 
the most essential respects, the universal F'ather. Every- — 
thing which exists having, before the time of its exist- — 


ence, no power or possibility of self-origination, must 


have had its birth from him. And we may go further’ 


even than this. The fact of his eternity, taken in con- 


nection with his other attributes, involves the idea, that 


all things are not only from him, but always have 
been, and are now, iz him. His eternity embraces the 
future as well as the present. His mind sweeps over all, 
understands all; sustains all, regulates all, unites all in 
one. ‘The successive developments of being and action, 
which arrest and occupy the human mind in the differ- 
ent stages of their progress, are a present reality to him. 
Their causation does not remove them from that which 
causes ; — and time does not, and cannot, take them out 
of eternity. They are what they are, because they are 
in him ; — and out of him they must necessarily cease to 
be. And thus he is constituted, by the very elements 
of his nature, the circumference as well as the centre, 
the end as well as the beginning, the universaL ALL. 

6. That man does not perceive this, is true. And 
he does not perceive it, because, trying to see in his own 
light, and not in the light which God himself is ready 
to impart, his “ foolish heart is darkened.’ None can 
know God, in the fullest sense of the terms, but those 
who are fully restored to him. Separated to a great 
distance by the repulsive power of selfishness, God, 
instead of being the universax and the att, is not only 
very remote, and much diminished in appearance, to 
those who are not in harmony with him, but is even 
doubtful in existence. “The fool hath said in his 
heart, There isno God.” But it does not follow, because 
‘God is not known, that he does not exist; nor, because 


oR hale ip eg 
ag ne da ee ee 


> ‘ : i ‘ wpe et aaa ei pee ge a soa =: ere: mieiies 
i ata) St i ae a a RS A i an ee he a MD nese SiH she eS se Sw 


CHARACTER OF GOD. 9 


he is not realized as eternal, that he is not eternal. HEx- 
_ istence does not depend upon perception. “The light 
shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehendeth 
it not.” 

7. God, being the Eternity of things, is the reality. 
By reality, we mean that which is substantial and essen- 
tial, that which is permanent, as well as that which is 
just and good; not the shadow of the rock, but the rock 
itself; not the reflection of the sun, but the sun itself ; 
the I am, as he names himself, because there is no other 
adequate expression of him, the being, and not merely 
the beginning to be. His eternity involves his essen- 
tiality, because, as we see No reason why he should begin 
to exist, so we see no reason why he should begin to 
change. His unchangeableness is but a’ part of his 
eternity. From him, as the essential, or the I am, all 
other things not only flow out as from the original 
fountain, but continue to live from him as from a pres- 
ent life. 

8. Here, then, is the beginning, the foundation prin- 
ciple, of our argument. God, in being eternal, is the 
source of all things, whatever they may be, which have 
an existence, or rather the appearance of existence, sep- 
arate from himself. In other words, all things which 
are finite, and are created in time, embodied though 
they may be in their own form, and sustained by their 
appropriate laws of being, are necessarily from him and 
by him. And thus, when we consider things in their 
origin and relations, how they all come from God, and 
how they are all dependent on him, we shall obtain one 
of the most important conceptions which we associate 
‘with God, namely, that in Ais life is the drue life, 
and that out of his life there is nothing but death. We 
shall thus, in this view of God, and of the relations he 


10 DIVINE UNION. 


i 


sustains to other beings, realize, in a true and high sense, 
the import of those expressions which are so often found 4 
in writers of great religious experience, — expressions q 
liable to be perverted, but still conveying a great truth — 
in a concise form, — “the atu of God, and notuine of the 4 
creature.” 4 
9. These views, undoubtedly, when we come to 
speak of man’s moral responsibility, will be entitled to 
their just modifications. It is our object at the present — 
time, in as few words as possible, to present the general 
truth under consideration in the strong light which 
properly belongs to it, unembarrassed by subordinate 
distinctions. When we assert that the doctrine of God’s | 
eternity involves the idea that all things come from him, | 
we of course mean that they come from him by a drue — 
descent ; — that they have their origin from him in'the — 
line of a just filiation. If man, in the exercise of his 
moral responsibility, — forgetting and abusing the fact | 
that he is of God ,and lives his true life only in union — 
with God, — undertakes to become a self-originator, and 
to do things in his own Supposed strength and wisdom, 


it would be absurd to speak of such things as of divine 
origin. 


hl LA rt i a Aa 


4 


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‘ 


‘ : Pa ee ee 
ee, ee eee iv 


CHAPTER III. 


ON THE OMNIPRESENCE OF GOD. 


Necessity of Divine Omnipresence. — Of its extent. — Of its nature, or mode. 
— God present to everything in the entireness of his being. — Relation of 
these views to the doctrine of Divine Union. 


Gop, who, in transcending the limitations of time, is 
eternal, in transcending the limitations of place, is also 
everywhere present. It is not possible for him to be 
confined to particular places and things, to the exclusion 
of other places and things, but he is and must be God 
every where. 

“Tf I take the wings of the morning,” says the Psalm- 
ist, “‘and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even 
there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand hold 
me.”’* And again he exclaims, ‘‘ Whither shall I go 
from thy spirit, or whither shall I flee from thy pres- 
ence?” : 

2. God is present in everything we see, in every- 
thing we touch; present in clouds, and rivers, and 
‘forests; present in our bodies; present in our spirits; 
present, with variations of manner and degree, in every 
thought and feeling. Philosophy and poetry, in all ages 
of the world, and in all countries, repeat and confirm 
this great truth of the Scriptures. 

‘Should Fate command me to the farthest verge 
Of the green earth, to distant, barbarous climes, 


Rivers unknown to song ; where first the sun 
*  Gilds Indian mountains, or his setting beams 


* Ps, 139; 10. 


+ 


~ 
12 ‘DIVINE UNION. 
Flame on the Atlantic isles ; ’t is naught to me, 


Since God is ever present, ever felt, 
In the void waste, as in the city full.” 


3. But we may, perhaps, distinguish between the — 


fact and the nature or mode of God’s presence. Admit- 
ting the great truth of the universality of the divine 
presence, the question still remains, —is God present 
directly or indirectly, present by a direct and immediate 
personality, or only by the subordinate and intermediate 
presence and agency of other beings ? 

It cannot be doubted, I suppose, that many persons, 
who hold to the doctrine of God’s omnipresence specu- 
latively, are apt to think of him, notwithstanding, as a 
God over us, without thinking of him, in an equal 
degree, as a God with us. “We behold him, but not 
now ; we see him, but not nigh.”* This was a mistake 
of some of the ancient heathen philosophers, and was, 
perhaps, comparatively innocent in them, who looked 
upon God as omnipresent virtually rather than really, 
as sending out the universality of his presence from a 
local residence in the heavens, and as administering the 
affairs of the universe, in all its parts, not personally, but 
by a secondary and distant agency. Some Christians 
also, those who are beginners in the Christian life, have 
regarded God in a similar light; namely, in a character 
and position like that of an earthly monarch; beholding 
him, in imagination, seated on a throne of great splen- 
dor, but infinitely remote, and governing his numerous 
kingdoms by means of angelic or other agencies. 

4. This is certainly an imperfect view of God’s 
omnipresence; not so much false, perhaps, as defective, 
and suited to certain degrees of Christian experience, 
but not to its highest results. The presence of God, 


* Numbers 24: 17. 


a zi 24 al ath 
RE CS REG AY ete 


Tame. 1 aS Ae tes 


0 pee? sade Tid 
ye . , 
a one so ; 


rey 


CHARACTER OF GOD. 13 


when rightly understood, is a direct and immediate 
presence; a presence which allows of no other object or 
agency between itself and the object with which it is 
united. ‘He is not far from every one of us,” says the 
apostle; “for in him we live, and move, and have our 
being.’* If we may be allowed to illustrate the subject 
from the analogies of the material world, we may, per- 
haps, say, in expressions which suggest the truth, if they 
do not fully convey it, that God’s presence constitutes, 
to the soul, and to all beings and things which exist, a 
spiritual atmosphere. ‘As the birds, when they fly, 
whichever way they go, though they change their place, 
still fly in the air, and everywhere meet the air; as the 
fishes, which swim in the seas, everywhere find the 
waters, and are encompassed with them on all sides; so 
we, how much soever we change our place, and whith- 
ersoever we please to go, shall everywhere meet with » 
God. And God, says St. Augustine, shall be more pres- 
ent within us, in the very midst of our being, than we 
are ourselves.’’ + 

5. Nor is this all that is to be said on this subject. 
Owing to the limited powers of our minds, and that con- 
fusion of our ideas which is the result of sin, we are apt 
to think of God as present in all places, not in the entire- 
ness or wholeness of his being, but by the spreading out 
or diffusion of his being; so that, in a given place or a 
given object, considered as separate from other places 
and objects, there is not the whoie of God present, but 
only a part of him in that particular place or object. 
This also seems to be an error. God is not only univer- 
sally present, but, wherever he is present at all, he is 
present without separation, present as God complete, in 
the fulness and perfection of his divinity. 


* Acts 17: 27, 28. + Boudon, God Everywhere Present, Ch. I. 
9) ‘ 


a) 


14 : DIVINE UNION. 


/ 


6. And this is true in small things, as well as in 


great. God tells us that he clothes the lilies of the field, — ; 


that he watches over and protects the sparrow, and feeds 
the young ravens. But it would be a mistake to suppose, 


after the manner of men, who know only and feel only in. 


particulars and by degrees, that he does this by a part of 
his nature only, while the greater and better part of his 
thought, and of his immense heart of love, is given to 
other objects. On the contrary, he is a God equally 
present to everything, without distinction of place or 
degree of existence, —as much present, in the extent 
and unity of his being, to an insect as to a man or angel. 
Undoubtedly this view, even with the explanatory and 
very just remark that he is not so much comprehended 
and received by inferior beings as by those which are 
greater, conveys a wonderful idea of God; but not so 
‘wonderful as to furnish a reason for its disbelief and 
rejection. ‘The infinite Godhead, stooping, by the very 
perfection of his nature, condescends to take an interest 
in all things he has made,—to hear the songs of his 
own birds, to play with the shepherd’s flocks as they 
sport on the sides of the mountains, and to rejoice with 
the young lions as he feeds them in the forest. It is not 
a portion of God, not a half or a tithe of the Divine 
Existence, as our imperfect conceptions of things are 
apt to suppose, but a whole God, — God in the infinity 
of his perfections, — that watches over and rejoices in 
them. 

So that it is necessary to add to the idea of the univer- 
Sality, of his presence that of the directness and intimacy 
‘of his presence, and also that of the fulness and perfec- 
tion of his presence. 


7. It is hardly necessary to say, that this view of | 


God’s omnipresence is important in explaining the facts 


if 


sets pie 


“Ae 


a 
B-. 


CHARACTER OF GOD., 15 


and relations of Divine Union. ‘The physical union, if | 
these views are correct, is already complete. God cannot 
have locality, and man cannot be without it. And man’s 
locality is always in God, although his character may 
not harmonize with his position. And here is the source 
of his unhappiness. 'T'o be in God by physical position, 
and out of God by divergency of character, is to be the 
subject of the greatest discord and misery. On the con- 
trary, if we add harmony of character to harmony of 
place, if we add to the embrace of God’s physical 
presence the higher and nobler embrace of his moral 
perfections, then we have realized the true elements of 
divine union, and have become one. 

8. “O Lord, thou hast searched me, and known me. 
Thou knowest my down-sitting and mine uprising; 
thou understandest my thought afar off. Thou com- 
passest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted 
with all my ways. For there is not a word in my 
tongue, but lo! O Lord, thou knowest it altogether. 
Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thy 
hand upon me.”* 

Those whose souls are so far renewed that they can 
be said to have entered into this state of union, know 
practically the import of these remarkable expressions. 
At all times and in all varieties of situation, they not 
only have an intellectual conviction, but may be said to 
know, by the intimations of the heart as well as by 
reasoning, that God is with them. In company with 
others and in solitary places, in their daily walks and in 
seasons of rest and of innocent pleasure, in every situa- 
tion in which they can by any possibility be placed, they 
have evidence of God’s nearness and intimacy. And it 


* Ps,.139: 1,.et seq. 


166 oe - DIVINE UNION. 


adds to their happiness to know, that he is present 
them in the fulness and perfection of his nature, — jus 
as much so as if they were the only beings in the uni- 


verse. 


: 


CHAPTER: IY. 


ON THE GREATNESS AND SUPREMACY OF GOD. 


\ 


Greatness predicated of God alone. — The greatness of God original, self-sus 
tained, eternal. — Of the supremacy of God. — Relation of these views to 
man. 


Ir is a principal object, in this part of our work, to 
obtain some correct and impressive views of the nature 
of the Divine Existence, in order to learn how man has 
separated himself from a state of union with God, and 
also to learn, in the methods and results of his departure, 
the necessity, the methods, and the results, of his return. 
The remarks which we shall have occasion to make, 
although it may not be entirely obvious at first, will be 
found, in the issue, to have an intimate relation with the 
great subject before us. Accordingly, we proceed from 
the consideration of the Eternity and Omnipresence of 
God, to a few remarks on his Supremacy. 

2. ‘*Gop ONLY Is GREAT.’ Such were the concise 


but triumphant expressions with which Massillon, the 


distinguished religious orator, commenced his funeral 

discourse, on the occasion of the death of Louis XIV. 
Never was a more correct sentiment uttered by human 

lips. And never was there a more appropriate occasion 


of its utterance. Who would dare to appropriate the 


epithet Great to himself, when he, who had received 

it from a nation’s voice for half a century, had fallen at 

the slightest touch of Providence ?— the crown removed 

from his temples, the sceptre wrested from his hands, 

and his form changed to dust and ashes. ‘That certainly 
Ox 


18 DIVINE UNION. 


was a suitable time for a minister of God, whose business 
it is to measure the human by the divine, and to adjust 
the temporary to the eternal, to detach an epithet, which 
has so often been wrongly placed, from its human appli- 
cation, and to append it to God alone. . 

Massillon, in the utterance of this important sentiment, 
stands approved by philosophy, as well as by theology, 
by the decisions of human reason, as well as by inspira- 
tion. It is a sentiment which commends itself, not only 
deductively, but almost to man’s intuitive perceptions, 
that there is, and can be, but one adbsoiute greatness. 
All other greatness, if it be possible that there can be any 
other greatness, is greatness only by comparison. It ig 
the greatness of the finite estimated by the finite; of the 
destructible weighed in the balance of the destructible ; 
the greatness of angel measured by angel, of man mea- 
sured by man; but it is not, and cannot be, the greatness 
of God. The greatness of God differs from all other 
greatness, in that it is greatness absolute, and not great- 
ness by comparison. 

3. Absolute greatness, in distinction from every other 
thing to which the epithet great can be applied, is a great- 
ness which is original. It cannot be said of that which 
is absolute, that it begins. It has its origin and its life in 
itself. Its name, like that of God himself, is, 1 Am; that 
which exists, not that which begins to exist; that which 
lives, not that which degins and which is made to live. 
No being can say of it, that it is a gift. No being can 
claim homage for it, as the giver. As there is nothing 
from which it comes, we can only say of it, that rr 1s. 
Self-existence is its first attribute. 

4. Absolute greatness, as it is self-originated, so it is 
self-sustained. It stands, self-centred, without the aid 
of exterior supports. If it depended upon things exterior 


Pe Baty 
WES 


oR 
gl 


eas 3 ea a ear seth eae 


+. 


OP ak ee en |e 


CHARACTER OF GoD. 19 


to itself, if it rested upon a pedestal which other hands 
had placed beneath it, it would be subject to contingency. 
More or less of uncertainty would surround it every 
moment. As it asks no one’s consent that it may live, 
so it fears no one’s opposition. The power which pro- 
tects it, is inherent in its own nature. 

5. Absolute greatness is eternal. As there was no 
reason why it began, so there is no reason why it should 
end. ‘The eternity of the past has its counterpart in 
the eternity of the future. And it lives in all time to 
come, because it has lived in all time past. 'To say that 
there is some element of decay in God’s greatness, would 
be the same thing as to say that there is some element 
of decay in God himself. . 

6. In all these particulars, all other greatness fails. 
That which is called human greatness begins in time, 
and is terminated when: it has hardly begun to exist. 
Monuments are erected to its memory, but monuments, 
as well as that of which they are the memorial, pass 
away. In the true sense of the terms, therefore, God 
only is great. And he is so, because in him ereatness 
has neither beginning nor end, but having the true life 
in itself, it is imperishable. It needs no pyramid to per- 
petuate the name, when the substance is gone. It is 
itself its own monument, its own inscription. Absolute 
greatness belongs to God alone. | 

7. It is hardly necessary to add, that the greatness 
of God, in being absolute, is also supreme; and that 
God is truly God over all. If it is a greatness self-origi- 
nated, if it is a greatness self-sustained and eternal, if it 
is a greatness which does not exist by comparison, nor 
admit of comparison, but exists out of comparison, and 
above comparison, it is, of course, supreme. It stands 
not more alone in its origin and its perpetuity, than it 
does in its supremacy. 


20 DIVINE UNION. 


8. And if God alone is great, if God only is supreme, 
then those only of all his creatures can truly be called 


great, even in the mitigated and subordinate sense of the a 


term, who repeat in their own existence the true reflec- 
tion, on a limited scale, of that original and unlimited 
greatness, which has its source and perfection in him 
alone. Never could there be a greater error than that 
committed by man, when he dissociated himself from 
the | Am. Every man, in the sphere which is allotted 
him; be it more or less, if he scatters light and not dark- 
ness, if he is a renovated and true man, and not a fallen 
and wicked man, must be what he is because he is IN 
and or Gop. Hence it is a truth, which cannot be too 
often repeated, that we are great only as we are great 
in him from whom we came. 

9. Oh that men knew what God is! With such , 
views as have now been expressed, we are in a way to 
arrive at, and to solve, one of the important problems of 
existence, namely, to annihilate the idol and the super- 
scription of false greatness, and to seek and to rest in 
the greatness which is true. Happy is the man who is 
‘ enabled, by divine assistance, to adjust himself to the 
truth. He feels himself to be in the truth only when 
he feels himself to be, not the source of things, but the 
recipient; — standing with his face towards the Infinite, 
that its divine rays may fall upon him, and clothe him 
with its celestial beauty. Such an one, realizing that 
all which he has, whatever may be its appearance in 
the eyes of men, is from God, and from God alone, 
sympathizes with the devout language of the Psalm- 
ist: —“ Thou art great, O Lord God, for there is none 
like thee, neither is there any God besides thee.”’* 


* 2 Sam. chap. 7: 22. 


CHAPTER V. 


ON THE RELATION OF THE UNCREATED TO THE CREATED. 
God the true source of all power. — Moral freedom one of God’s gifts. —Of 


the true exercise of moral freedom.—Of the dangers of a wrong moral 
choice, — None good but one. 


In the chapter on the eternity of God, we have already 


had occasion to intimate, that everything which is created 


necessarily has a beginning. But this is not all. Hav- 
ing no beginning in itself, but in that which is out of 
itself, everything which is created owes to that princi- 
ple of causation from which it came, not only its being, 
but its powers. All existence and all power are in God; 
and everything which is not God has its existence and 
its power from him. : 
2. These views indicate, in general terms, the rela- 
tion of the created to the uncreated; the relation of the 
creatures of God to God the Creator. It is not only a 
relation which implies a beginning, on the part of the 
creatures, but a relation which implies their continued 
dependence. ‘The created not only come from God, but 
receive from God; not only derive their existence from 
him, but everything else. And, on the other hand, God, 
sustaining the relation correlative to that of beginning 
and reception, is not only the beginner of existence, but 
is the continual supplier of its wants. It is not possible, 
in the nature of things, that a being who has a beginning 
out of himself, should ever have anything in himself ; 


DIVINE UNION. 


that is to say, by his own originating power. Whatever 
This, as it seems to me, is one of those 
first truths, which, in being suggested by nature herself, — 
are above and beyond reason. 
only created, which {s a distinct act, and a distinct event, 4 


he has ts given. 


Created beings are not 


; 


but in all time subsequent to their creation, (repeating — 


here the sentiment which has already been expressed, ) 
they are, and can be, only what they have power to be 


3. Let it be remembered, then, as a first truth in the 
doctrines of religious experience, that in all things God 
Among the gifts which thus flow from 
God, is that high and invaluable one of moral freedom. 
In the exercise of that moral power, which is involved 
in the possession of moral freedom, men sometimes spealc 
of it as their own possession, their own power ; but they 
cannot, with any propriety, speak of it asa power which 
is not given. ‘The gift of freedom involves the possibil- 
ity of walking in the wrong way, but it does not alter 
the straightness and oneness of the true Way. 
g, although they are and can be ful- 
lled only by those who are morally free, are, neverthe- 
less, unalterable. Founded in infinite wisdom, they 
necessarily have their permanent principles; and God 
himself, without a deviation from such wisdom, c 
change them. In the exercise of their moral choice, 
it is undoubtedly true, that men may endeavor to live 
in some other way, and to walk in some other path, 
than that which God has pointed out; 
follow from this th 


ws the giver. 


laws of holy livin 


but it does not 
at there is, or can be, more than one 
true way. God, in imparting to men the gift of moral 
freedom, has said to them, Life and de 
you; but he has not said, Ye can find life o2 
He tells them, emphatically, 


ath are before 


ut of myself. 


there is but one Fountain ss 


a 


* oe 


CHARACTER OF GOD. 23 


but having given them the freedom of choice, he announ- 
-ces to them, also, that they may cither rest confidingly 
on his own bosom, and draw nourishment from that 

eternal fountain of life which is in himself, or may 
seek, in the exercise of their moral freedom, the nour- 
ishment of their spiritual existence from any other 
supposed source of life, with all the terrible hazards 
attending it. 

A, But if God is the only true Fountain, those who seek 
any other fountains will find them “broken cisterns, 
that can hold no water.’? When moral beings, in the 
exercise of their moral option, choose to seek their sup- 
port and life from any source separate from God himself, 
they necessarily die. It cannot be otherwise. Created 
beings, as we have already seen, are necessarily depend- 
ent on their Creator. They have no power of making 
that which is not already made ;— no power of absolute 
origination. It is true they have the power of choice, 
but they must choose among the things that are. They 
must either choose God, or that which is not God. If 
they choose, as their source of life and of supply, that 
which is not God, they look for help to that which has 
no help in itself, for life to that which has no life in 
itself, much less help and life for another. They ask 
“for bread, and they find a stone;” they ask “for a 
‘fish, and they find a serpent.” They are compelled to 

say, in the language of the prodigal son, my father’s 
hired servants “ have bread enough and to spare, but I 
perish with hunger.” 

_ Their freedom, invaluable as it is, does not give them 
the power of doing or of enduring impossibilities, of 
drinking without water, of eating without food, of 
receiving while they turn aside and reject the hand of 
the great Giver. 


24 DIVINE UNION. 


5. It is a truth, then, which cannot be too often — 
cepeated, and too earnestly impressed, (a truth neces- — 


sarily resulting from the relation of the created to the 
Uncreated,) that there is and can be but one source of 


life. This is one of the great truths which the Saviour 


came to illustrate and confirm. It is in man’s power, 


as a moral agent, as we have already seen, to turn 


from’ God, because God has given him power to do so, — 


and to seek support somewhere else. But the neces- 
sary result is, if there be but one source of spiritual 
support, that he finds only deprivation and hunger, 


instead of a full supply, and death instead of life. 
For wisdom he finds ignorance, for strength weak- — 
ness, for confidence fear, for purity impurity, for love — 


hatred, for joy remorse, and for hope despair. God,~ - 


in the fulfilment of his plan of supporting him in exist- 
ence as a moral being, sustains and will continue to 


sustain him physically. In other words, making a dis- — 


tinction between the material and mental man, he does 
not deprive him of a natural or physical existence. But 


the life which he thus lives will be, and can be, only the © 


receptacle of death. It will be the physical or natural 
repository of a moral corruption; a living and moving 


sepulchre. It cannot be otherwise. He has nothing to ~ 


live upon but himself, or creatures as poor as himself. 


And, in the continual exhaustion of that which is not — 
only limited in its supply, but poisonous in its nature, 
he lives a horrid and ghastly existence, and pines away — 


with a death that never dies. 


Adorable Jehovah! Source of all good, truth, and — 


life, when will men discover the truth of the blessed ‘ 
Saviour’s words, ‘‘ There is none good but one, that is, 


God;” or say, with one of thine ancient servants, 


“There is none holy as the Lord—for there is none 


CHARACTER OF GOD. 25 


beside.thee?” * When will they learn that man, in 
his natural state, is ‘‘of the earth, earthy ;”’ and that, in 
the things which are earthly and perishing, they cannot 


find an adequate support for that which is destined for 
immortality? When will they discover that rrom thee . 


all come; and that 1n thee all that live the true life 
must live; that, by an eternal law, which is not more 


_ obvious from revelation than from the light of reason, 


he who has not life has death, and he who has not God 
in his heart has Satan ? 


* 1Sam. 2:2. Mark 10: 17. 
3 


<a 


C HAPTER VA 


SUMMARY OF SOME OF THE LEADING PRINCIPLES COMING 
UNDER EXAMINATION IN THE PRESENT WORK. 


WE propose here to give briefly a summary of some 
of the leading principles involved in the preceding chap- 
ters, and which, in connection with others flowing out 
of them, and perhaps equally important, will be illus- 
trated in various ways in the chapters which follow. 


I. 
God has life in himself. He has it, but, because he is 


eternal, he did not and could not originate it. It is not 
life by creation, but life by mature. And as there is but 
one eternal and uncreated life, all other life 2s, and must 
be, derwed from the life which is in God. 


II. 
As man’s life, at his first creation, was not original 


and uncreated, it must have come from God. And the 
life which comes from God is the true life; and all life 
which does not come from this divine source, is false. 
So that, when man ceased to live in God, he ceased to 
. possess any principle of life which was true. From that 
time onward, except so far as he is restored by.the gift 
_ and infusion of a new life, he has only the semblance of 

vitality, but not the true vitality; the form of life, but 
the reality of death. 'The true life, the life of God, is 
not in him. 

Those who have fallen from the true life, and have 
become, in the language of Scripture, apaxa in tres- 


SUMMARY OF PRINCIPLES. 27 


passes and sins,’’ cannot restore themselves. Death, or 
the false life of sin, cannot originate the true life of holi- 
ness. ‘Those, however, who are in this state may be 
made to understand the misery of their situation. Their 
power seems to be, not to restore themselves, but merely 
to perceive their misery, and to utter the supplication of 
their anguish and necessity. 


‘ IV. 
When those who are fallen lift up their cry to God, he 


hears them. It is not in the divine nature to do other- 
wise.. Unable to help himself, but able nevertheless to 
utter the cry of his helplessness and anguish, the unre- 
generate sinner,finds help in God. As the true life is 
God’s life, diffused from himself into all those who are 
born into his image, the restoration of the divine life in 
the soul is necessarily the work of the Infinite and not 
of the finite, the work of God and not of the creature. 
V. 

All true life is from God ; — both the original life before 
man fell, and the life of the ‘new birth,” when he is 
restored from his fall. But when we speak of the resto- 
ration of fallen man as the gift of God, we ought always 
to add that it is a gift through Jesus Christ. And it is 
in consequence of this that the work is sometimes 
ascribed directly to Christ, as well as to God. “In mm,” 
says the evangelist John, when speaking of Christ, ‘‘ was 
life, and the life was the light of men.” 


VI. 
In all cases, whatever may be the channel of commu- 


nication, God is the original Giver. One of his great 
gifts to man, —a gift which was imparted at his first 
creation, and has never been withdrawn, —is mMoRAL 
FREEDOM. Our heavenly Father has seen {fit to leave it 
to our own option, — a thing to be decided by ourselves, 


28 . DIVINE UNION. 


—whether we will or will not accept himself as the 


great and only Giver. That is to say, the choice, and 


the only choice, which is allowed to man, or to other 
moral beings, is the choice of life from God or of life 
without him;— the choice of living with God present 
and operative in the soul, or of living with God excluded 
from it. It was not possible, so far as we are able to 
perceive, that any other choice should be given. 


Vil. 
If, accordingly, in the exercise of moral freedom, and 


in the spirit of entire consecration, we renounce tke life 
‘ of the creature, and accept the life of God, by opening 
our hearts to the free and full entrance of his grace, then 
he will become the true operator in the soul, and will 
‘give origin to all spiritual good. It is then that God 
works in the soul; and, so far as this is the case, it 
can be said of such an one, in the language which 
the Saviour applied to himself: — ‘The words that l 
speak unto you I speak not of myself, but the Father 
that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.” 


VIII. 
The great truth of man’s moral agency, without 


which he could not be man, but must be something 
lower than man, is thus recognized and established by 
his own voluntary acquiescence in, and acceptance of, 
the divine operation. 


IX. 
Man’s moral agency, when he exists in full union 


with God, either in his original creation or in his resto- 
ration to God through Christ, is felt, not so much in 
guiding himself as in harmonizing with God’s guidance; 
— hot so much in originating knowledge and holy affec- 
tions, as in rejecting all confidence in himself and accept- 
ing God as his teacher: —in a word, not so much in 


SUMMARY OF PRINCIPLES. 29 


willing or purposing to do whatever he may be called to 
do by an independent action, as in ceasing from every- 
thing which is not God, and in desiring and willing to 
let God work in him. 

X. 

At the same time it is true, that God, in thus taking 
possession of the mind and becoming its inspiration, 
harmonizes with the mind, not less really than the mind 
harmonizes with himself; namely, by originating 
thought, feeling, and purpose, through the medium of 
their appropriate mental susceptibilities and laws. That 
is to say, if it is true that God acts, and thereby consti- 
tutes a vital principle, it is also true that God acts in the 
moral and responsible man; and not only acts in the 
man, as the locality and the subject of action, but also 
by means of the man, as the voluntary and concurrent 
instrument of action. 

XI. 

It is thus that God, acting upon the basis of man’s 
free consent, becomes the life of the soul; and as such 
he establishes the principle of faith, inspires true knowl- 
edge, gives guidance to the will, and harmonizes the 
inward dispositions with the facts of outward ,rovidence. 
In a word, God becomes the Giver, and man the happy 
recipient. God guides, and man has no desire or love 
but to follow him. 

From that important moment, which may well be 
called the crisis of his destiny, man, without ceasing to 
be morally responsible, harmonizes with his Maker. If 
he thinks, and feels, and acts, by means of thought, feel- 
ing, and action which he has from another source, it is 
because he adopts that other source of knowledge, feel- 


Ing, and action as his own. he two principles of life, 


the human and divine, are thenceforth united. The 
? ax 


30 DIVINE UNION. 


prayer of the Saviour is answered: — ‘As thou, Father, 
art in me and Tin Thee, that they also may be one in us.” — 
XII. ‘ 

Those who are thus in union with God are necessa- 
rily in union with all that God desires and purposes to 
do. Especially are they in union with that great plan 
of redemption which the Bible unfolds. ‘They can say 
with the Saviour: —‘“‘My Father worketh hitherto, and I 
work.” 

It would be a great error to suppose that they are 
inactive, because they have their thought, feeling, and 
action from God. On the contrary, having those dispo- 
sitions from God, which keep them in harmony with 
himself, they necessarily stand in the attitude of the most 
harmonious and perfect obedience; ready to do and to 
suffer whatever their heavenly Father requires of them. 

XIII. 

In particular, the doctrines of DIVINE UNION agree with 
and sustain the doctrine of the Holy Ghost, as it is laid 
down in the Scriptures. Not only patriarchs, and proph-_ 
ets, and apostles, and other good men, were taught and 
guided by the inbreathings and teachings of a higher 
Power, but also the Son of God himself; on whom the 
Holy Ghost descended visibly, and of whom it is 
repeatedly said, he was ‘‘led by the Spirit.”” The Evan- 
gelist Luke, alluding in the Acts of the Apostles t6 the 
visible ascent of the Saviour, says, ‘‘ He was taken up, 
after that he, ruroucu THE Hoty Guost, had given com- 
mandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen.” 
And this remarkable declaration accords entirely with 
what we are frequently taught in relation to him, that — 
all his words and judgments and acts were first wrought — 
inwardly by the indwelling power of the Father, before 
they were wrought outwardly by the manifestations of 
the Son. 


SUMMARY OF PRINCIPLES. 31 


XIV. 

In accordance with what has been said, the first work of 
man will be to restore himself, or rather to cease from 
any reliance on himself, and to look to God, in order that 
a power greater than himself may do the work which 
has failed in his own hands. 'The renovation of himself, 
which naturally comes first in order, will not fail to be 
followed by the restoration of humanity in all its forms, 
particularly by the restoration of the family, and then by 
the pacification and perfection of society in general. 
The man, who has his life from God, will endeavor to 
restore and to perfect everything in its order ; — operating 
in connection with the instrumentalities and arrange- 
ments which his heavenly Father has established, such 
as the Sabbath, the Bible, and the Ministry, and always 
humbly relying on the suggestions and aids of the Holy 
Spirit. 

XV. 

It is thus that men are truly united with God. But it 
is important to remember that the union, though based 
upon the consent of the party which is brought into 
union, is something more than a mere conventional 
arrangement. It is not enough to say that we belong to 
God’s party, unless we can add, that we belong to his 
household. 'Those who are ‘born again,’’ — at least, 
in that higher sense in which we use the expressions, — 


_ are not born into the capacity or condition of mere codper- 


ators, or servants, — no matter how faithful their services 
may be, — but into the vastly higher condition of sons 
and daughters. God is the Father. ‘They are the chil- 
dren. And they are united to God not only by the con- 
sent of the will, but by a filial nature, which is gradually 
originated in the soul by a divine power, just as really 
and truly as earthly children are united by a filial 
nature to their earthly parents. (See Part V., Ch. 8.) 


PART SECOND. 
ON FAITH, AND THE UNION OF GOD AND MAN IN FAITH. 


CHA PEE RY Tt 


ON FAITH AS AN ELEMENT OF THE DIVINE NATURE. 


Explanations of Faith.— Faith a necessary element of the Divine 
Nature. — Reasons for this view. — Reference to the Scriptures. — 
Operations of the principle of faith in'the Divine Mind. — Its rela- 
tion to love. — Of the excellency of faith. 


Gop exists by the necessities of his nature. Perhaps, 
however, this is no more than to say that he has always 
existed. ‘The fact is evident, but the manner of it is 
inexplicable. It is obvious, nevertheless, that, being 
what he is, he must have faith in himself as such. 
Faith, as really as knowledge and power, is an original 
element of the divine existence. 

2. With God there is no time. The present, past, and 
future, are one. So that God, in possessing the powers 
or attributes of God from eternity, has had faith in them 
from eternity. In other words, God’s faith is not only 
commensurate with the nature of his attributes, but is 
commensurate, also, with their duration. Before all 
time, and in all time, he has always had faith in him- 
self as existing from eternity, as having all power, all 
wisdom, all goodness, all truth. Eternity, therefore, is 


— 
ap 


UNION IN FAITH. 33 


not more predicable of God’s attributes than it is of faith 
- jn his attributes. Both, in being infinite, have the same 
extent, —in being eternal, have the same origin. 

3. These general views can hardly fail to commend 
themselves to enlightened reflection and reason. Faith, 
as an element of the divine nature, is as necessary as the 
divine existence. If we predicate necessity of the one, 
we must predicate it of the other. The idea of God 
without faith in himself as God, would be something in- 
conceivable, a contradiction, a nullity. It is the prin- 
ciple of faith, underlaying and supporting the action of 
the will, which not only constitutes the foundation of his 
unity, but renders his various perfections ‘active and 
available in their appropriate spheres. God without 
faith would be as destitute of unity of character and 
energy of action, as man without faith. In human 
action it is constantly seen that no amount of knowledge 
will supply the place of confidence. The commander 
of a vessel, for instance, with all the knowledge and 
capacity requisite to guide her into port, but having no 
confidence in his power, and actually made incapable 
of consistent and right action, by unbelief in his capacity 
of action, takes a wrong course, and inevitably makes 
shipwreck. And, in like manner, the attributes of God 
would riot enable him to conduct the affairs of the uni- 
verse, if he had not faith in them as equal to the emer- 
gency. If it were possible for unbelief to enter into his 
nature, instead of being sustained by them he would be 
frightened by the extent of his own power, and would 
tremble in the presence of his own infinite justice. “he 
weight of his attributes, unsustained by the faith they 
were calculated to inspire, and incapable of any profit- 
able direction, would fall in, if we may so express it, 


34 ‘DIVINE UNION.’ 


upon: the centre of his being, so that he would present ‘ 


the aspect of an infinite imbecility, a God in ruins. 


4. Nor is this faith, which God has in himself, as being | 
what he is, the product of observation, or the result of 


comparison and deduction; for that would imply that — 


there was a time when he was without it. Nor could it 


have been communicated from any source exterior to — 
himself. There is no other God who could be the 3 


source of such communications. On the contrary, exist- 
ing without being given, because the idea of its being 
given implies a time when it did not exist, it is what we 
have already represented it to be, something coéternal 
with the Divine Mind, a part of the Divine Nature. 

5. There are passages of Scripture which indicate 
more or less explicitly God’s faith in himself. “ And 
God said unto Moses, lam tHat Iam. And he said, 
Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, 1 AM 
hath sent me unto you” —a declaration which, in ex- 
cluding all uncertainty, and still without assigning any 
.¥eason for such confidence except the reference to his 
own existence, obviously implies the fact of faith as an 
element of the Divine Nature. It was enough for Moses 
to announce that the I AM, the Divine Existence, had 
sent him; which, in being the true and original existence 
or life, could not fail to verify and establish its messages 
_ and purposes. The apostle Paul makes express mention 
of God’s faith. Rom. iii. 3: “Shall their unbelief,”’ he 
says, “make the faith of God without effect?” The faith 
of God, in this place, is sometimes understood to mean the 
declaration or promise of God. May it not also imply that 
confidence in himself which enabled him to make the 
promise? In the next chapter, the apostle represents God 
in the exercise of faith, as ‘calling those things which 
are not, as though they were.” Overleaping the boun- 


‘ 


UNION IN: FAITH. 30 


daries of time, and by its mysterious energy converting 
the possible into the actual, it realizes the future in the 
present and the non-existence of the fact in the existence 
of the conception. 

_ 6. Again, it is said in the Epistle to the Hebrews, 
‘When God made promise to Abraham, because he 
could swear by no greater, he sware by himself.’ eb. 
vi. 13. An oath is an appeal to a higher power. God, 
therefore, being the highest possible existence, could 
swear only by himself, which, however, he obviously 
could not do, if he had not possessed faith in himself. 
In the same Hpistle, xi. 3, we have the following remark- 
able passage: ‘Through faith we understand the worlds 
were framed by the word of God; so that things which 
are seen were not made of things which do appear.” 

If we understand this passage correctly, the import of 
it is this: —God, in the exercise of faith, namely, faith in 
his ability to create worlds, created them by his word, 
so that things seen or visible were made from things 
unseen. ‘The context of the passage, when properly 
examined, seems to require this interpretation of it, 
although it is, perhaps, different from that which is 
generally received. 'The sacred writer, in giving, as it 
were, the genealogy of faith, begins with God himself ; 
not only as being first among the “ elders,’”’ but as fur- 
nishing, in the fact of creation, the most striking illustra- 
tion of the definition of faith he had just given. 

And undoubtedly it is a great truth, as the passage 
obviously implies, that God himself could not have 
orginated creation without faith. ‘‘ Darkness was upon 
the face of the deep.” 'The wide-spread and formless 
chaos lay before him, out of which an universe of form, 
of relations, and of beauty, was to spring to light. If he 


had been destitute of faith in his ability to give it birth, 
/ 


36° DIVINE UNION. 


the volition, the inward word, would never have been — 


uttered. ‘The most reliable knowledge which we have 
of mental operations, associating as it always does the 


fact of volition with the condition of antecedent belief, — 
clearly indicates that it would have been impossible. — 


But having faith, he acted, when the time of action 


came. He believed and he spake: “He commanded, : 


and it stood fast.”’ 


, 7, With perfect faith in himself, God becomes a perfect — 


administrator. He lays the vast plans, which are being 
accomplished in the universe, because he has faith in his 
ability to accomplish them. He sees the end from the 


beginning, and adapts the wisest means to the most 7 
beneficial results, because he has faith in his wisdom: — 


He everywhere dispenses justice, rewarding the good 
and restraining and punishing the evil, because he has 
faith in the rectitude of his intentions, and has no fear 
in regard to any of his acts that wrong will or can be 
done by them. And, above all, it is faith in himself as 
having power in himself to sustain the right against 
the wrong, and to “justify the ways of God to man,” 
which enables him, by, mediatorial plans, which he 
alone can comprehend, to pardon the guilty and to do 
good to his enemies. 

8. ‘These views tend to elevate the principle of faith. 
If it is true that man lives by faith, it is not less true 
that God lives by faith. So that faith, as an element of 
the life of moral beings, is taken out of the list of things 


which are created, and is placed among those which are _ 


uncreated and eternal. It is a principle which has ever- — 


lasting life. God, who could not exist without faith, 
lives by having faith in himself ; and man lives by 
having faith in God. In marching in the high road of 
‘faith, we have God for our leader. We follow a captain 


UNION IN FAITH. ov 


who is without fear; and that is the source of our own 
hope and courage. God’s faith is as substantial and 
permanent as God is, because it is a part of his nature. 
Man’s faith is substantial and permanent only as it 
elevates itself above the weaknesses of humanity and 
reposes upon God. . 


CHAPTER II. 


ON FAITH AS THE CONSTITUTIVE ELEMENT OF HUMAN AND 
DIVINE UNION. 


Of man’s perfection when he came from his Maker.—Man created 
originally in the possession of faith. — Reasons for this view. — Of 
the degree or strength of faith, as it existed in man at first. — Man’s 
recognition of God as his Father. — These views supported by the 
Scriptures. 


Aut that man had when he was made, came from his 
Maker. And all that God made was pronounced coop. 
It could not be otherwise. ‘Every good gift,” says the 
apostle James, “‘and every perfect gift, is from above, 
and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom 
is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” “ His 
divine power,” says the apostle Peter, “ hath given unto 
us all things that pertain unto godliness.” 

2. Among the original gifts which God gave to man, 
when he came good and perfect from his Maker’s hands, 
was that of FAITH. 


If God could not exist, as the Creator, without faith . 


in himself, so man could not exist as the created, without 
faith in‘God. Faith in God, at the time of his creation, 
was a necessity. That is to say, he must have been 
created, in the first instance, with the principle of faith, 
as a part of his nature. Additional to what is expressly 
said in the Scriptures on the subject, there are two rea- 
sons in support of this assertion. 

The first is one which is derived from the nature of 


UNION IN FAITH. 39 


the mind. Perhaps it may be called the philosophical 
reason. Itis this. Faith, considered as the product of 
humanity, must necessarily rest upon the evidence of 
direct perception, in some of its forms, or of reasoning, 
or upon both combined. But it is seif-evident, that it 
could rest there only on the ground of the antecedent 
acceptance of the credibility of the perceptive and deduc- 
tive powers. Hence, the express declaration of the 
German philosopher, Fichte, namely, that we are all 
born in faith.* It would be impossible for us to believe 
in the information which the perceptive and deductive 
powers give, unless we previously possessed confidence 
in them, as qualified to give information. And this con- 
fidence or faith, in them, it would be impossible for us 
to have, unless we had, at the same time, entire faith in 
the Giod who gave them. 

3. ‘The other reason, that man must have been orig- 
inally created with faith in God, as a part of his nature, 
is founded in man’s sonship. 'The view is this. God, 
in forming man in the first instance, constituted him, not 
as a being made and cast off from himself, but as a being 
made and continuing his existence iz himself; not as 
an independent existence, but as a related or filiated 
existence. In other words, God made him a son. 

But this could not be done without some connecting 
principle. ‘There can be no mental connection, such as 
is implied in sonship, without faith. Filiation, or son- 
ship of mind, without the principle of faith existing in 
that which sustains the filial relation, is an impossibility. 
God, therefore, in making men his children, necessarily 
gave them faith. And this is obviously the doctrine of 


*Fichte’s Bestimmung des Menschen. — See Morell’s History of 
Philosophy, on this subject, Part II. ch. 5, § 2; also a biographical 
History of Philosophy, by G. H. Lewes, series II., vol. 4th. 


AO DIVINE UNION. 


the Scriptures, that faith is not only necessary to consti« 
tute sonship, but is the gift of G'od.* 

A. Accordingly, man in his original state believed. 
To doubt was something alien to his nature. He not 
only had faith in God, as the originator of his own being, 
but as the Supreme Ruler, the ‘God over all.” 

Indeed, the propositions of God’s eternal existence, om- 
nipresence, and supremacy, are necessarily addressed 
rather to faith than to absolute knowledge. To possess, 
for instance, a direct and positive knowledge of God’s 
supremacy, including both the fact of his supremacy 
and its infinitely various applications, would imply a 
knowledge not more limited than his own. But if the 
divine supremacy, as thus explained, is too vast a sub- 
ject for direct and positive knowledge, it is not too vast 
for belief. If the human mind cannot fully comprehend 
it, (as it certainly cannot, in its particulars,) it can be- 
lieve in it as a thing irtcomprehensible. 

5. And the faith, which was given to man when he 
first came from the hands of his Maker, existed in such 
a degree of strength as to exclude doubt. Faith has its 
degrees. But if aman has a weak or imperfect belief 
of God’s supremacy, he will fail to render him that 
sincere and deep homage to which his supremacy is 
entitled. ‘There can be but one Supreme power. 'T'o 
doubt of God’s supremacy, or to believe in it with any- 
thing short of a full and perfect belief, seems to imply 
the possibility of another ascendant power. In such a 
state of mind we know not whom to call our master, or 
whom we should obey. It cannot be said of such a 
being, nor of any other being in whom faith is not per- 
fected, that he lives by faith. So that the sonship, in 
which man was originally made, and to which the 


*Eph.2: 8. Heb.6: 1—4. Galat.3: 7—26. 


Ke Se 


UNION IN FAITH. * AR 


renovating power of the Gospel is destined to restore 
him, implies, not only faith, but the perfection, or highest 
degree, of faith. 

6. In the beginning, therefore, man, from the neces- 
sity of the case, was created not only with faith, but 
with faith existing in the highest degree. And faith, 
thus given, was the first principle of union. . Man nit 
not have been united in any other way. The faith of 
the heart inspired the utterance of the lips. ‘The first 
ery which man uttered, when he came from the bosom 
of the Infinite, was, My Fatser;—a voice of filiation, 
and of love, which was not learned through the instru- 
mentality of human teaching, but was inspired and 
spoken by a divine impulse. 

And accordingly, it is said by the apostle Paul, in 
reference to the restoration of man to God, through 
Christ, “We are the children of God, by faith ;” — 
remark which evidently implies, that without faith we 
could not be children. God, in speaking of the rebel- 
lious Israelites, says, ‘‘'They are a very froward gener- . 
ation, children in whom is no faith.”* Being without 
faith, they had ceased to be true children, and had 
become froward. And it is thus we are enabled to feel 
the force of that remarkable passage in Jeremiah, 
‘And I said, How shall I put thee among the children, 
for restore thee to the condition of children,] and give 
thee a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of 
nations? And I said, Thou shalt call me My Father.’ + 
And in all cases the faith, which enables us to recognize 
God as our Father, constitutes us his children. 


* (alat. 3: 26.’ Deut: 32: 20. + Jerem. 3: 19. 
4* 


Fd 


CHAPTER ITI. 


ON THE RELATION OF THE WORK OF CHRIST TO THE RESTO- 
RATION OF UNION. 


Origin of sin. — Of man’s condition when he fell. — Relation of unbelief 
to other sins.— Object of Christ’s coming into the world. — The 
atonement. — Necessity of the atonement. —Its effects. 


Ir faith was the original principle of union between 
God and man, as everything teaches us it must have 
been, then the opposite, namely, unbelief, or the want 
of faith, was, undoubtedly, the original principle of sep- 
aration, disorder, and all sin. By the necessity of the 
case, when man ceased to believe in God, the tie of filia- 
tion was broken, and God ceased to be his Father.’ 

2. ‘The fall of man is summed up ina single sentence. 


' He fell when he ceased to believe. In spiritual filiation, 


faith is, and necessarily must be, the primitive and con- 


Stitutive element of the filial relation. It may, perhaps, 


be said, that it does not, of itself alone, constitute sonship, 
but it can certainly be said that it is an element, without 
which the constitution of sonship would be an impossi- 
bility. If it is not the whole, it is not only a part, but 
an essential part. And accordingly, when faith ceased, 
man could no longer say, ‘“‘My Father.’’ He of course 
ceased to be a son; and ceasing to be a son, he be- 
came a rebel. And when he heard the voice of God 
speaking to him, he feared him and fled. 

3. From that sad hour how greatly changed was 


UNION IN FAITH. 43 


‘a 


man’s condition! Before that time God rejoiced over 
him, as a father delights in a beloved child. ‘TI live by 
‘the Father,” said the blessed Saviour.* Such was 
man’s life in the beginning. God gave him all things, 
and he lived without care. It is a great truth, which 
God himself has proclaimed, that the “just shall live by 
faith »’—a truth which implies that his life is not in 
himself, but in another. But when man, by ceasing to 
recognize the true God, made himself God, he no longer 
looked to God for support. ‘‘God hath made man up- 
right,” says the author of the book of Ecclesiastes, ‘‘ but 
they have sought out many inventions.” In the sim- 
plicity of faith, man was satisfied with what was given 
him, but afterwards, too proud to receive provisions 
from a father’s hand, he endeavored to feed himself;— 
eating in toil and sorrow among the thistles. Under 
the sharp light of an awakened conscience, he found 
himself naked as well as hungry. In the state of divine 
filiation, God clothed him with the brightness of inno- 
‘cence; but when he sank into the nakedness of the 
creature, he clothed himself with fig-leaves. 

A, Philosophically, then, as well as scripturally, uNBE- 
LiEF is the sin of all sins. It is not only the first, but 
the greatest ; not only the evil of the world, but the seed 
or parent of all other evil. It is the only sin by which 
aman, who is in a state of union with God, can be sep- 
arated from God in the first instance, although many 
other sins will follow from it. And standing at the 
head of the list, it is not more first in time than it is first 
in preéminence. 

5. It was from the sin of unbelief especially, which 
originates and envelopes all other sin, that Jesus Christ 


* John 6: 57. 


44 DIVINE UNION. 


came into the world to save men. Sin, under a perfectly 
just administration, can never be forgiven without an 
atonement. Mercy fails to be truly and beneficially exer- 
cised, when it fails,-at the time of its exercise, to yield its 
homage to what is right. Hence the necessity of a medi- 
ator. We are taught, in many passages of Scripture, that 
_ Christ came into the world, that hé was born, and died, 
in order that man’s sins might be forgiven, and that 
God, in connection with forgiveness, might re-create the 
principle of faith, and restore him to sonship. ‘Behold 
the Lamb of God,” said John the Baptist, “which taketh 
away the sin of the world.’ ‘ Christ,” says the apostle 
Paul, in the Epistle to the Galatians, “hath redeemed 
us from the curse of the law.” And again he says, in 
the same Epistle : — “‘ When the fulness of the time was 
come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made 
under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, 
that we might receive the adoption of sons.”  ‘“ Christ,” 
says the apostle Peter, “also suffered for us, leaving us 
an example that we should follow his steps, who his 
own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that 
we, being dead to sins, should live to righteousness ; — 
by whose stripes ye were healed.” Isaiah, in one of 
the many prophecies which are understood to have rela- 
tion to the Saviour, says, “Surely he hath borne our 
griefs, and carried our sorrows.” And again, ‘“‘'The Lord 
hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” The word of 
God, whether we consult its history or its poetry, its 
prophecies or its precepts, is full of this great truth. So 
that the apostle Peter, when “filled with the Holy » 
Ghost,” had good reason to say to the rulers of the 
people and the elders of Israel, —‘‘'This is the stone, 
which is set at nought of you builders, which is become 
‘ne head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in | 


UNION IN FAITH. 45 


any other, for there is none other name under heaven, 
- given among men, whereby we must be. saved.” 


6. The doctrine of the atonement seems to have a 
philosophical, as well as a religious foundation; that 
is to say, it will be found to be sustained not only by 
many passages of Scripture, but by sound philosophical 
inquiry. The conceptions of right and wrong, of merit 
and demerit, of reward and punishment, and of the 
necessary and fixed relations among them, are element- 
ary in the human mind; —not so much the results of 
reasoning as connatural and necessary ; and are common 
to all men. The human mind has never separated, and 


~ never can separate, the relations of merit and reward, of 


demerit and punishment. It is not more true that there 
is an universal conviction, than it is that there is an 
universal law represented in that conviction, that virtue 
is and must be followed by happiness, and that crime is 
and must be followed by misery. And it is a conviction 
not less universal, that God, as the administrator of the 
universe, and as the administrator and sustainer of the 
truth and the right, cannot and does not allow these 
important relations to be violated. It is not possible, 
under a perfectly holy administration, for the wrong-doer 
to escape punishment, and to be forgiven, except by 
means of an atonement. 

7. Such, at least, on a thorough inquiry, will be found 
to be the general feeling of mankind. Feelings represent 
principles. And they do so because they spring from 
them. If man feels his need of some mediatorial agency 
in order to become reconciled to God, it is because he 
is secretly convinced, although he may be unable ta 
analyze that conviction, of its moral necessity. It would 
be well for men who are given to philosophical inquiries, 
to turn their attention to this point. They cannot do it 


‘ 3 ' 
“5 


A6 DIVINE UNION. 


with any care, without seeing how widely spread is the 


sense of sin, and how deeply men, in all ages, have felt, 
not only the need of eppiedliation; but the need of some 
mediatorial power. 


It is for this reason, that, in all nations, and in all ages” : 


of the world, offerings ane been hada; and burning — 


altars have beat kindled. It was necessary, as it seemed g 
to men, that the offended Deity, under’whatever form or ~ 


name * might be believed in, should be propitiated. 


They did not then know, that the benevolence of God — 


could be exhibited in connection with his justice; that 
God himself, in the person of his Son, would be the 


sinner’s offering; and that the fires of human altars 4 


would be quenched in the blood of the incarnate 
Immanuel. 

8. The atonement being made, God appeared once 
more as the restorer and new creator of the violated and 
lost sonship. Angels proclaimed the message. To all 
the world it was announced, ‘ Peace on earth ; good will 
to men.” As many as were of a broken heart returned, 
and God gave them power to believe. Beaten by thé 
world’s tempests, disappointed and ruined in all their 
worldly expectations, they ceased to have hope in the 
finite, and turned their weeping eye to the Infinite. 
They found God by having faith in God, when they 
lost themselves by ceasing to have faith in themselves. 
Their necessity became the mother of their faith. In 
their sorrows they turned to him, who alone could give 
hope. ‘The golden link, which had united the Father 
and his children in the garden of Eden, was readjusted, 
and they became one. 

9. But the faith which was lost in the Fall, and is 
thus restored on Calvary, is not a dead faith; neither is 


it a faith which is restricted to one occasion, or one pur- 


UNION IN FAITH. AT 


: pose. It must be, as it was when man came from the 
. perfect hands of his Maker, a faith universal; a faith in 


everything which is necessary to be believed in; a faith 
which resists the attacks of selfishness at Stee point, 
‘and which sanctifies as well as justifies. © The first act, 


connected with the renunciation of ourselves, and with 
our deep sorrow for sin, is belief in God’s willingness to 
forgive us through Christ. The result of this act is for- 


’ giveness. 


10. But this is not all that is necessary. It is God’s 
“delight,” as it is said to be the delight of that wis-_ 
dom which dwells in him, ‘‘to be with the children of 
men.” His heart is not isolated and unfeeling, but full 
of the spirit of communication. He not only loves, but 
loves to be loved in return. The desire of his heart is 
not, and cannot be satisfied, until man not only returns 
to be reconciled, but returns with the full purpose never 


‘more to be unreconciled ; in other words, returns to live 


It’ is impossible that man should come back to be par- 
doned with no other view than that of starting on a new 
course of sin. Such repentance, if we could call it by 
the name of repentance, would not only fail to meet the 
claims of truth and justice, but would be adding the 
spirit of contempt and mockery to transgression. God 
cannot accept him, unless he returns not only a penitent 
son for the past, but with the humble and believing 
prayer that he may be a faithful and true son for the 
future. 

11. Every man, therefore, who has a hope of recon- 
ciliation to God in Christ, can retain that hope only on 
the condition of a sincere purpose to live to God alone. 
He must be willing, henceforth, in the exercise of faith 
in the mediatorial arrangements and provisions, not only 


48 ‘DIVINE UNION. ; 


to receive forgiveness from him, but everything else ; 
making God’s will the guide of his actions, and God’s 
promises the support of his expectations. He must 
willing to be transferred from the dead life of self, to the 
living life of universal love; from the centre of the 
ereated, to the centre of the ‘uncreated ; from the hope — 
founded in man, to the true and unchangeable me in 
God. : 
12. Such is the restoration which Christ has pur-_ . 
chased ; not only forgiveness, but life. Forgiveness can- 
eels the delinquencies of the past, but it does not give 4 
the “daily bread” of the present and the future. It 
takes away the heavy sense of condemnation, but it does’ 3 
not give the living spirit of holiness. It Aeaioye the hell 
of the soul; but God alone can constitute its heaven. i 
And God is in the soul, the inspirer of its thoughts and q 
affections, to every one that believes. . 
Boies then, that ye may have everlasting life 4 
‘‘ What agreement,” says the apostle, “ hath the temple — 
of God with idols? For ye are the temple of the living — 
God: as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk a 
in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my — q 
people. Wherefore, come out from among them, and be 
ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean | 
thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father ; 
unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith 
the Lord Almighty.” ‘2 Cor. 6: 16—18. 


OH BEAUTIFUL, AND YET UNKNOWN! 


The sunbeam, at its noonday height, 
Shines not to those who cannot see ; 4 
And what, to him who has no sight, | 
Avails the day that shines in Thee ? a 


UNLON IN FAITH. 


Oh beautiful, and yet unknown! 
The sinner cannot see Thee now ; 
The veil across his sight is thrown, 
Which shuts him from thy shining brow. 


He seeks Thee, but thou art not found, 
Nor shall he have the’ power to find, 
While sin, that wraps its folds around, 
Shall close the eye-ball of his mind 


Friend of the lost, the sinner’s friend ! 
Who only canst the light impart ; 
Oh Saviour! haste that veil to rend, 
And pour thy brightness on his heart. 
5 


49 


CHAPTER IV. 
THE LIFE OF FAITH IN DISTINCTION FROM THE LIFE OF DESIRE. 


Of the disproportion between desire and faith in Christians. — Ilustra- a 


tions of this disproportion. — The life of desire and faith contrasted.” 


— Transition from one to the other.— Characteristics of this state of a 
transition. — Instances of the life of faith. 


In order satisfactorily to understand-the nature of the 
life of faith, it is necessary to distinguish it in some 
particulars from the life of desire. It is by these last 
expressions that the state of Christians, in the more 
common forms of experience, may well be described. — 
Undoubtedly the description will apply with still more 
truth and emphasis to those whose hearts have never 
been brought in any degree under a truly religious ~ 
influence. Of Christians, however, as well as of those : 
who are not so, it can be said, with too much reason, 
that their life, which ought to be more fully sustained by 
a higher principle, is a life of desire. If they will ex~- 
amine carefully, they will be surprised to find the great 
disproportion which there is between their desires and. 
their faith. | 

2. They desire, for instance, those temporal things 
which are convenient for them, without exercising a 
correspondent degree of faith, and without looking, as 
they ought to do, to the great and only Giver of all good. 

They desire, with feelings partly natural and partly 


UNION “IN. FAITH. 51 


holy, the progress of God’s work in the world; but they 
. have but little faith, certainly far less than they ought to 
have, that his work will be carried on. They have 
desires, perhaps earnest desires, that individuals, with 
whom they are acquainted, should become the devout 
followers of God ;—but they have not faith in proportion 
to their desires. It is oftentimes the case that their 
desires are various, multiplied, and perhaps violent, when 
they are scarcely conscious of any degree of faith. 
Indeed, it seems sometimes to be the case that desires are — 
strong and impetuous in proportion to want of faith. 

3. This is a subject at which persons have not always 
looked with care. And it must be admitted that it is 
one of some difficulty. In order to understand it the 
more easily, it may be proper, in some particulars, to 
place the two states under consideration in contrast to 
each other. It will be recollected, however, that in 
speaking of desire here, we mean desire as it exists in 
those whose minds, in being but partially sanctified, are 
not in full harmony with God. 

The life of desire has its centre in the creature. ‘The 
life of faith has its centre in God. 'The life of desire has 
its origin in thegwants of man’s fallen condition. It is 
the natural expression, the voice of those wants. ‘The 
life of faith has its origin in the fulness of God. It is the 
expression, the voice of that fulness. 

The life of desire, originating in the creature, is 
bounded in its horizon. It selects particular objects, 
such as it can see, and appreciate, and cling to. The 
life of faith seeks nothing in its own will; but expanding 
its view to all objects and all relations of objects, it 
chooses, without knowing what is best for itself or others, 
only what God chooses. Aon 

The life of desire is variable. It takes a new appear- 


52 DIVINE UNION. 


ance, and operates in a new direction, with every new — 
object to which it attaches itself. The life of faith is 
invariable, always exhibiting the same aspect and look- 


ing in the same direction, because the object which — | 


inspired it never changes and never can change. The 
life of desire is a multiplied one, because it seizes succes- 
sively upon the multiplied objects of desire by which it 
is surrounded. ‘'The life of faith is simple, because, trac- 
ing effects to causes and losing sight of the littleness of 
the creature in the infinity of the Creator, it rests upon 
God alone. 

The life of desire asks; the life of faith satisfies. 
Desire is the voice, the petition of the creature; faith is 
the expression of God’s answer. Desire, restless by its 
very nature, seeks to accomplish its object by positive 
and aggressive efforts. Faith, in the consciousness of its 
strength, conquers by being in harmony with the divine 
movement, and by the attractions and power of its innate 
purity and repose. 

4. In these contrasted ‘statements, which, in being 
introduced chiefly for the purpose of illustration, are 
designedly made in a manner somewhat unqualified, we 
may obtain, if not a perfect, at least aa approximated 
view of the subject. We now proceed to say, that im 
the progress of the soul’s renovation and of its restoration 
to God, the mind gradually removes from its first central 
position in desire to a new and permanent centre in 
faith. And in accordance with this view, it will be 
found, on examination, that there is always a period, if 
the progress in sanctification is such as it ought to be, 
which may be described as the period of transition from 
the life of desire to the life of faith. This important and 
decisive period is characterized by two things, which are 
worthy of notice here. 


UNION IN FAITH. 53 


\ 'The first is, that the desires, at first so numerous, are 
+ *simplified and brought into unity. ‘They may either be 
‘described as Jost in, or, what is the same thing, as made 
‘one with the desire of the accomplishment of God’s will. 
“The language of the heart, whenever it is brought to this 
period in its history, is, Thy will be done. In the great 
and overruling desire involved in this language, every 
other inclination, every other desire, is harmonized. 
And it is easy to see that it cannot well be otherwise. 
“The necessity of a simplification of the desires is to be 
found in God’s nature. It is obvious that all desires, 
all purposes, must be made one with his, or they can 
‘never meet with his approbation. He can never fulfil 
the plans of any being which are distinct from and at 
variance with his own. 

5. The second thing characteristic of this transition 
state, is, that the principle of faith will be so simplified 
in its action as to embody itself and rest in a single prop- 
osition: merely ; —namely, that God does now give, and 
that he always will give, to his believing people that 
which is best for them ;—a result which will be fixed 
and inflexible, just in proportion as they are able, with- 
out asking anything in their own will, to rest believingly 
in this great truth. Desire, in its spiritual simplification, 
uniting all objects in one, says, ‘THY WILL BE DONE. 
This is its continual prayer. Faith, simplified by the* 
same grace so as to correspond to the simplicity of the 
desire, says, in reference to aLL wHo BELIEVE, ‘hy will 
is done. His people give themselves to God; — he gives 
himself to them. Their will is, that Azs will, and not 
‘their own, may be accomplished in themselves and in 
whatever concerns them. And as they believe in him as 
a God of wisdom, goodness, and truth, the accomplish- 


ment of it, whatever it may be, makes them happy. 
5% 


54 DIVINE UNION. 


6. 'These views aid in explaining some peculiarities of 
inward experience. Antonia Bourignon, for instance, — 
speaking of some forms of prayer which she had been 
accustomed to go through, says, at a certain time, that 
they became burdensome to her, and difficult to be 
repeated.* Her mind, fixing upon no particular object 
of want or desire, was greatly drawn to inward silence. 
In her alarm she hardly knew what to think; but was 
inclined to adopt the trying conclusion, either that she 
had become indifferent to religion, or that God had 
abandoned her. She laid the case before God. The — 
answer, which she speaks of having received, or perhaps 
more properly the conclusion to which her Spirit was 
promptly led by a divine operation, was embodied in the 
concise but significant inward expression, “ Cease, and I 
will do all.” 

The import of this divine response was this: Cease 
from the useless multitude of petitions with which you 
now weary me; leave, in the exercise of faith, all your 
cares and sorrows and wants in my hands, and I will 
take care of you. In other words, it was the transition 
point from a life of desire to a life of faith ; and, instead 
of being a state of indifference or declension in religion, 
was really one of great advancement. 

7. These views explain, in part at least, some expres- 

* sions which are found in Bishop Burnet’s account of the 
religious experience and life of the Earl of Rochester ; 
though the form of experience is a little different in some 
respects from that which has just been mentioned. In 
this distinguished but very irreligious man, the power 
of divine grace was very remarkable, after he had once 
learned the way of truth and purity. The turbulent life 


* Parole de Dieu, p. 31. See also Boudon’s Regne de Dieu. Livre 
nt. Chs. 6, 8. 


UNION IN FAITH. 55 


of nature was withered and consumed under the blaze 


‘ of holy love. In the closing part of his life, his religious 


state, raised above all anxieties and all ordinary forms 
of desire, was characterized chiefly by triumphant faith, 
and the spirit of devout and exalted praise. In admira- 
tion of the boundless goodness of God, he exclaimed, 
‘“Oh, why these favors to me, Lord? why to me? 
Praise is now my work. Oh, help me to praisehim! I 
have nothing else to do. I have done with prayer. I 
shall presently stand upon Mount Zion, with an innu- 
merable company of angels, and the spirits of the just 
made perfect. I shall hear the voice of multitudes, and 
be one among those who say, Hallelujah! Glory, and 
honor, and power unto the Lord our God !” 

The experimental or interior history of the church 
presents many cases, which bear a resemblance more or 
less close to these, and which illustrate these views. 
Leighton, Ken, Edwards, Gregory Lopez, Guthrie, 
Brainerd, Carvosso, Payson, —all, in all ages of the world, 
who have attained assurance of faith, are instances. 

8. Especially do the lives of the pious men who are 
mentioned in the Scriptures, whatever may be true of 
their desires, exhibit the predominance of this great 
principle. Remove the mighty attribute of faith ;—and 
what would be left worthy of especial notice to the 
religious man, in the sublime characters of Abraham, 
Moses, and Daniel, of Paul and John? The Saviour, in 
particular, who is our great pattern, is the most perfect 
exemplification of the life of faith. It is true that in his 
state of humanity he had, like other men, the desires 
which are common to man’s nature ;—but these desires 
were always, and in all cases, subordinated to the desire 
that God’s will might be done. ‘‘ Lo, I come to do thy 
will.” “Not my will, but thine be done.” In this 


56 DIVINE UNION. 


overruling desire that God’s will might be accomplished, — 
all other desires were harmonized and made one. a 

But this was not all. The strength of the Saviour’s 
faith corresponded to the simplicity and the exalted 4 
nature of his desire. His desire, checked and controlled f 
by his confidence in God, never degenerated into anxiety, 
never changed to selfishness. Faith overshadowed and 
sanctified it. It was faith which laid the foundation — 
of the perfect adjustment of his own character. It was @ 
by faith that he ruled both men and nature ;— healing : 
the sick, controlling the storms, and walking upon the — 
sea. It was faith that gave him strength to consummate i 
the mighty sacrifice which saved a world. In his faith, 
more than in any other of his mental attributes, was the : 
“ hiding of his power.” 


OHA PTE R ¥. 


OF THE UNION OF GOD AND MAN [Li FAITH. 


On the degree of faith necessary to constitute the union of God and 
man in faith. — Man should believe in God just as God believes in 
himself. — Illustrations of this view. —Inferences from the general 
views of this subject.— Faith the gift of God.— Faith the basis 
of knowledge. — Faith the source of strength. — Faith the basis of 
right action. — Reference to the Scriptures. 


We have already had occasion to show, in one of the 
previous chapters, that faith is the constitutive element 
of human and divine union. ‘That is to say, without 
faith on the part of man it is impossible that union 
between God and man in other respects should exist. 
Faith is the element which is indispensable in the for- 
mation of union; but the question still remains, bib 
degree of faith is necessary? _ 

The answer is, man will be united with God in other 
respects, in love, in wisdom, and in will, just in pro- 
portion to that faith which is the constitutive element 
of union; and he will be perfectly united in these re- 
spects when he is perfectly united in faith. And if the 
question recurs, when may he be said to be perfectly 
united in faith?—the answer is, when he believes in 
God with that unwavering confidence with which God 
believes in himself. 

2. For instance, God has faith in his omnipotence. 
He has the power to do all things, and he believes that 


58 DIVINE UNION. 


he can eg all things. The faith of that man, in whom e 
the principle of faith is perfectly restored, harmonizes 


with God’s fajth, and he also perfectly believes that o a 
can do all things. 

Again, God has perfect faith in his own arisen 
never doubting in the least that he sees the end onl 
the beginning, and that nothing is or can be beyond the — 


reach of his knowledge. The faith of the man, in whom ~ 4 


the principle of faith is perfectly established, harmonizes, 
in this instance also, with God’s faith, and he never 
doubts, and never can doubt while he remains in this 
state, of the perfection of the divine wisdom. 

Again, God has perfect faith in his own perfect rec- 
titude, believing that he shall always do right under all 
circumstances, and without the least variation. The 
faith of the man of perfect faith harmonizes with God’s 
faith, so that he never doubts that the omnipotence of 
God is pledged to the support of the right, and that all 
things will work together for the good of those who love 
him. 

3. Man’s faith, when it is in a state of perfect restora- 
tion, rests upon God’s faith, as upon an unchangeable 
rock. ‘The divine faith is eternal; it is a part of the 
divine existence, and is as unchangeable as it is eternal. 
And when the divine and human faith are brought into 
perfect harmony, the stable and divine character of the 
one is communicated to the other. God’s faith, for 
instance, in his own truth is perfect. It never enters his 
conceptions as a thing possible that he should utter a 
falsehood. 'To believe it possible would be a belief in 
his own degradation and ruin. So man’s faith, when in 
perfect union with God’s faith, accepts undoubtingly 
God’s truth; both the truth of his general nature, and 


UNION IN FAITH. 59 


the truth of his specific declarations. 'The stability of 
the one is communicated to the other. 

4. In connection with this subject, a number of re- 
marks may properly be made. Some of these remarks 
have already been anticipated in part; but we wish to 
repeat them here, and to leave them fixed in the mind. 
And one is this; as God’s faith in himself is not founded 
on experience, but, in the order of nature and in fact, is : 
antecedent to experience, so man, in his unfallen state, 
does not create his faith by reasoning founded on expe- 
rience, but being formed in the image of God, was created, 
in the beginning of his existence, in the possession of 
faith. Religious faith, that faith which recognizes and 
realizes the existence and perfections of God, relating as 
it does to things which must always be beyond direct 
human cognizance, is, and must be, a gift of God. And 
such, as has already been a a ie it is represented to 
be in the Scriptures. 

5. Another remark is, that faith given is and neces- 
sarily must be the basis of human knowledge. To 
ascertain the basis or true foundation of knowledge, has 
been considered one of the most difficult problems of 
human philosophy. Philosophy, instigated by the pride 
and confidence of ‘research, has sought for other founda- 
tions, but without success. It has been obliged, after 
long and earnest inquiries, to adopt the conclusion, 
humbling though it may be to the natural pride of the 
intellect, that all certainty rests upon faith ;— namely, 
faith in our mental powers as the sources of knowledge, 
and also, and chiefly, faith in God as the giver of those 
powers. It is this principle, harmonizing precisely with 
the doctrines of the Bible and with all relfgious experi- 
ence, which bridges over and shuts that great gulf in 
mere human philosophy, which separates the states of 


60 DIVINE UNION. 


mind from the knowledge invclved in those states, per-_ 


ceptions from the objects perceived, the subjective from 
the objective. 
6. A third remark is this: As faith is the basis of 


knowledge, so it is the basis of power. Power in the 


Divine Mind is rendered available by faith. Power in 
man rests upon the same basis, and man may be said to 
be powerful in proportion as he believes. It will be 
found true, in relation to all moral beings, that faith is a 
necessary element of existence. ‘To believe or to perish 
is their destiny. All inquiries point in that direction. 
They must have faith in something, or they necessarily 
die. And if faith is necessary to existence, it is still 
more necessary to power and the manifestations of power. 
Formed in the image of God, the strength of man, like 
that of his Maker, rests on the column of belief, and his 
highest degree of strength is realized, when human faith 
is intertwined and made one with divine faith, and when 
he believes in God just as God believes in himself. 

7. Again, faith is, and should be, the true basis of 
human action. As God never doubts, so he never acts 
in a state of doubt. Whatever he does is in full faith 
not only of his ability to do it, but of the rectitude of its 
being done. And so man, when he is in harmony with 
God, acts, and must act, in faith, When we propose to 
do a thing, and have not full faith in its rectitude and 
propriety, then it is a thing not to be done. We must 
wait until God, by his Word, Spirit, and Providences, 
clears up our way, and gives us faith. ‘ Whatever is 
not of faith, is sin.” 

8. In the light and with the aid of such views, we 
can appreciate more fully than we might otherwise be 
able to do, various expressions of the Saviour, such as 
are found, for instance, in the eleventh chapter of the 


ams 


UNION IN FAITH. 61 


Gospel of Mark. ‘“ And Jesus answering, saith to them, 
Have faith in God. For verily I say unto you, that 
whosoever shall say to this mountain, Be thou removed 
and be thou cast into the sea, and shall not doubt in his 
heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith 
shall come to pass, he shall have whatsoever he saith. 
Wherefore I say unto you, what things soever ye 
desire when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and 
ye shall have them.” 

True faith is the gift of God; and when it is given, it 
is just as certain that the result believed in will follow, 
as it is certain that God is true. So far as we have faith 
in God, we have a portion of the divine life, and, of 
course, a portion of the divine power. When the human 
soul is linked to God by faith, it is difficult to place a 
limit to its power, because it operates by moving the 
divine arm. All the miracles of Christ were by faith. 
It is not wonderful, therefore, that the Scriptures every- 
where ascribe so much power to it. 

Faith creates worlds, raises the dead, changes the 
heart, makes wise above human wisdom, renovates 
man’s physical as well as his spiritual nature, ‘‘ quenches 
the violence of fire’ by rendering hurtful things unhurt- 
ful, ‘‘stops the mouths of lions’ by reconciling the 
antagonisms and passions of the animal world, destroys 
the sting and the power of death, conquers Satan, unites 
the soul with God, gives everlasting life. 

6 


PART THIRD. 


ON THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD, AND THE UNION OF GOD AND 
MAN IN KNOWLEDGE. 


CHAPTER I. 


ALL KNOWLEDGE NECESSARILY IN GOD. 


General statements. — All knowledge first existed in God alone. — 
Proofs from the nature of knowledge. — Proofs fron the instru- 
ments of knowledge. — Of the instincts of animals. — God the soul 
or guide of reason as well as of instinct.— Of man’s moral re- 
sponsibility. 


Havine ascertained some of the more general princi- 
ples which are applicable to man’s restoration, and to 
that intimate retinion with God which cannot fail sooner 
or later to become, more than any other, the absorbing 
topic of the moral world, we proceed now to the con- 
sideration of the subject in other important particulars, — 
namely, union with God in knowledge, in love, in will, 
in providence, and in the great work of man’s redemp- 
tion. 

2. God being the TRuTH and the aLt, all beings who 
are in the truth are developments from himself ; —not 
merely being in harmony with him by agreement or 
convention, but flowing out from him as from their 
source of life. The tree that stands upright and bloom- 


LAY ARS 
pains 
SESH 


UNION IN KNOWLEDGE. 63 


ing on the surface’of the earth, derives its substance, its 
form, its beauty, from the earth where it grows; but not 
more truly than every moral being, who is in the truth 
and the right, derives whatever is true and right and 
good in him from God, who is the only good. ‘The tree 
is not the same thing with the earth ;—it bears a dis- 
tinct name and flourishes in a distinct form ;—but the 
moment its root is separated from the great and rich 
bosom of its parent, it falls and withers and dies. So 
man is not God; if he were so, he could not have been 
made in the image of God; but the moment he is sun- 
dered from the Infinite Parent, by separating the golden 
link of faith, he too falls and dies. There is then no 
strength, no soundness in him. 

3. In endeavoring further to show how the true and 
holy man exists in all things in divine union, and that 
he has nothing, and that, from the nature of the case, he 
can have nothing, except what he has from God, we 
proceed now to the consideration of the knowledge of 
God, and the union of God and man in that respect. 

And we begin with saying, that, in the first instance, 
all knowledge necessarily exists in God. It is true that 
knowledge can be predicated of man as well as of God; 
it can be predicated of angels, and, in a greater or less 
degree, of all percipient beings. Of all such beings it is 
a necessary attribute. They all, in being percipient, not 
only actually possess more or less of knowledge, but they 
have their appropriate sphere of knowledge; a field of 
inquiry suited to their position and faculties; often a 
very limited one, it is true, but always really and truly 
existing. This remark applies to knowledge in all its 
forms, instinctive, intuitive, and deductive. 

4. But, in whatever degree or in whatever form it 
exists, it is certain that it must first have existed in God 


64 DIVINE UNION. 


before it could have existed in the creature. The very 
idea of God implies that he has all knowledge; that 
nothing exists, and nothing can be conceived of, which is 
beyond the reach of his omniscience ; and that he knew 
all that he now knows, or ever can know, in the begin- 
ning. 

5. The nature of knowledge, also, indicating the 
divinity of its origin, shows that it must first have ex- 
isted in God. ‘There can be no knowledge without an 
object of knowledge, without something known, without 
a thing or existence to which the knowledge corresponds. 
But everything which properly comes under the head of 
creation, everything which exists, or can exist, is, and 
must be, from God. But if all things are from God, then 
the conception or idea of all things must have first been 
in him. All things which are created, were brought into 
existence in entire correspondence with the conceptions, 
or intellectual models, which are eternal in the Godhead. 
The forms of things can no more come by accident than 
the things themselves. Existences, in form as well as 
in fact, must be realizations of divine ideas. If, then, 
there can be no knowledge without objects of knowledge, 
and if all objects are formed in accordance with the 
knowledge of existence and form already existing in the 
Divine Mind, then all knowledge must have been in God 
in the beginning. 

6. Again, all knowledge, which can now be regarded 
as existing in the creatures, and can be predicated of 
them, must first have existed in God, because he formed 
and sustains the instruments of their knowledge. ‘The 
perceptive or cognitive powers, which they possess, are 
derived from him. He constituted them as the instru- 
ments of definite results; and, of course, must have 
known the results before he established the instrumen- 


UNION N KNOWLEDGE. 65 


tality. So that he not only made them for particular 
ends, knowing the ends for which he made them, but 
prescribed, also, in reference to those ends, the mode and. 
the degree of their action. All knowledge, therefore, is 
in him, because there can be no subordinate instruments 
of knowledge which are not from him. 

7. Well is the question put in the well-known lan- 
guage of a popular English poet :— 


‘Who taught the nations of the field and wood 
To shun their poison, and to choose their food ? 
Prescient, the tides and tempests to withstand, 
Build on the wave, or arch beneath the sand? 
Who made the spider parallels design, 
Sure as De Moivre, without rule or line ? 
Who bade the stork, Columbus-like, explore 
Heavens not his own, and worlds unknown before?” 


In the comparison of reason with instinct, we would 
not say with this ingenious writer : 


“Tn this ’tis God directs ; —in that ’tis man ;” 


but rather, in accordance with sound philosophy, as well 
as religion, ascribe both to God. 

8. It is delightful to contemplate the instincts of 
animals. If there is not a Power controlling and guid- 
ing these instincts, separate from and above the animal 
where they reside, then the animal occupies a place in 
the scale of being far higher than is generally estimated. 

Without hesitation would we subscribe to a sentiment 
to be found in the writings of the judicious mental 
philosopher, Dr. Reid. He is speaking of the wonderful 
skill and mathematical accuracy of the bee, in forming 
the cells of a honey-comb. ‘Shall we ask here,” he 
remarks, ‘‘ who taught the bee the properties of solids. 

6* 


66 DIVINE UNION. 


and to resolve problems of maxma and mmmma? We 
need not say that bees know none of these things. They 
work most geometrically, without any knowledge of 
geometry; somewhat like a child, who, by turning the 
handle of an organ, makes, good music without any 
knowledge of music. The art is not in the child, but in 
him who made the organ. In like manner, when a bee 
makes its comb so geometrically, the geometry is not in 
the bee, but in that great Geometrician who made the 
bee, and made all things in number, weight and meas- 
ure.” | 

9. So we may add in regard to man’s reason. Man’s 
reason, in its true and unperverted state, does not so 
much exist in man, as in that great Architect of reason 
who made man. God, and God alone, gave it its powers: 
of perception and comparison ; he established its laws 
of action; he adjusted the relation of its capacity and 
its results; and it is by his presence and guidance that 
it is sustained in all its just movements. 

It is true there is a reason of which this cannot be 
said ;—that reason which is wndirected, the reason of the 
fallen and the guilty. But of the reason of truly hum- 
ble and holy men, the reason of angels and all holy 
beings, it can always be said with truth, it is God’s 
reason, — God is its life. - 

10. We are not ignorant that this view, like some 
others which have been and will be presented, involves 
_the question of man’s power and responsibility. It will 
be said, perhaps, that man was made independent, that 
his reason is his own, and that he alone is responsible 
for ‘ts exercise. We readily admit that there is an 
important sense in which these expressions are true. 
Bat is there any better exercise of man’s independence, 
than by acknowledging him who gave it? Does he 


UNION IN KNOWLEDGE. 67 


alienate his responsibility by accepting aid from God? 
The fact of his moral responsibility is fully secured by 
leaving it to his choice whether he will live and act 
with God or without God. In making and acting upon 
that choice, —a choice which is constantly. placed before 
him, — he fully sustains the rights of his moral position. 
But it should be remembered that the very fact of choice 
implies, where things are thus placed in opposition to 
each other, that, if one choice is wise, the other will be 
unwise; if one choice is right, the other will be wrong. 

God made man, in order that, in the exercise of a free 
will, he might live iz and from his Maker. ‘This is the 
great truth of God and humanity. Accordingly, while 
man’s free will gives him all that independence which 
is implied in the exercise of choice, it does not neces- 
sarily give or imply the least alienation from God. 
Undoubtedly he may undertake the management of his 
powers of perception and reasoning, if he chooses to do 
it, independently of God. But would it be a wise 
choice ?—would it be a right choice ?—would it be a 
successful choice? Does it follow, because God has said. 
to man, — be independent if you choose to be so, — that 
he will make a choice so utterly unwise, so utterly de- 
structive and wrong ? 

11. There is a difference between liberty and license. 
License is liberty licentious ; that is to say, wrong, per- 
verted. But liberty, in the true sense of the term, faith- 
ful to its divine instincts, always respects right and 
obligation. Accordingly, it claims, it asks, it receives, 
no exemption from God. It is very true that man, in 


the perverted exercise of his freedom, may choose to live 


without God. But will he, or can he, live a divine life 
when thus separated from him? Can he, in this state 
of alienation, possess what he ought always to possess, 


68 DIVINE UNION. 


an angelic nature, the spirit and life of Christ in his own 


soul? In taking his powers of knowledge out of God’s — 


control, he no longer has divine knowledge, and cannot — 
have. If it be true that moral freedom, considered — 
abstractly and with reference merely to possibilities of 
action, will allow us to take this course, it is equally 
certain that morality, the doing what is right and best to 
be done, will not allow it. On the contrary, what 
morality always requires us as moral agents to do in 


this matter, is, to place our powers of knowledge in the 


divine keeping. It is there that they are both rightly and 
safely placed. It is impossible, in the nature of things, 
that any being but God should entirely keep human 
reason from error, and direct it aright. Man, without 
God to aid him, is sure to injure its powers, or to prevent 
its right application. So that God is, and of right ought 
to be, the God of all true and right reason. 

12. We will only add, that any: other view would 
place man below the brutes. If they have not moral 
freedom, it can at least be said of them that they do not 
violate God’s order. God feeds them; and they are 
willing to be under his care. God guides them, and 
they fulfil the ends of their being. A brute, under God’s 
protection and guidance, is in a far better condition than 
a man left to himself. 


CHAP TE RAYE: 


HUMAN KNOWLEDGE BASED UPON THE DIVINE. 


\ 


God the former and sustainer of the instruments of knowledge. — 
Doctrine of Malebranche.— Explanations upon it.— Necessity of 
divine guidance in the use of our cognitive powers. — Distinction 
between knowledge and the truth. — Reference to the Scriptures. — 

~ Concluding remarks. 


Aut knowledge, as we have seen in the preceding 
chapter, is originally in God. We proceed now to 
remark, further, that human knowledge is based upon 
the divine. In the Infinite Mind is the original fountain ; 
—a sea of knowledge, wide, deep, and forever full. 
And from it flow out the streams and rivulets of knowl- 
edge into all created minds. 

The view which thus connects human with divine 
knowledge, as streams are connected with their original 
fountains, has already been anticipated in part. It has 
already been said that God formed, and that he sustains, 
the instruments of knowledge, the various perceptive or 
cognitive powers, which exist in the human soul. But 
the subject remains to be presented in some additional 
aspects. 

2. It isa doctrine of Malebranche, a French philoso- 
pher of the seventeenth century, that we may ‘see all 
things in God.’ Undoubtedly expressions of this kind 
are liable to be perverted. But if they merely mean, — 
the more we know of God, the more we know what is in 


70 ‘DIVINE UNION. 


him, and what comes from him,—they convey a great 


truth. Certain it is, however, that we cannot see all 
things in God, while we ourselves are out of God. Our 


own relations to God must first be properly adjusted. 


| 
‘ 


As perception depends not only upon the perceptive q 


power, but partly upon the position in which it is placed, 


we must be placed right before we can see right. Un- © 
doubtedly, if we place ourselves in the divine centre, and 
let our minds run-in the channel of the divine radiations, — 
we shall see all things in the divine light. If God — 
‘slows in the stars, and blossoms in the trees,’”’ he must * 
have realized them in idea, before he realized them in © 


creation. And if we see them in the outward manifes- 
tation, it is possible also to see them in the divine centre. 


The universe is nothing more, and can be nothing more, — 


than the outward letter of the infinite thought; the full- 


blown beauty of the central conception. ‘The stars and — 


the flowers were in the divine bosom before they were 
planted in the earth and the sky. 

And this truth is universal. It applies to everything 
which is created. It applies to outward nature. It 
applies to man. It applies to all the powers of man. 
They are all developments from God. 

3. But admitting this to be'the case, and admitting, 
especially, that the instruments of our knowledge are all 
of divine origin, the question still remains — m what 
way shall we rightly and successfully apply them? 'They 
come from God. Can they be sustained, and operate 
rightly, without him ? 

If it be said that we can properly and gunsasraly 


suide them by means of our own knowledge, the inquiry © 


still remains, — what are the instruments, and what are 


the sources of knowledge back of them, by which such 


guidance is thus secured? Guidance implies a guiding 


a 


-~ 


UNION IN KNOWLEDGE. © 71 


power: A guiding power implies perception. But what, 
and where, is that higher perceptive power in man, 


i which thus enables him to guide his faculties? Look 


for it carefully, —scrutinize the secret places of the intel- 


ect, — and you cannot find it, except in God himself, 


present and operating in the intellect. ) 

We can come to no conclusion; we find ourselves 
reasoning continually in a circle, except on the supposi- 
tion that God, in the person of the Holy Ghost, and as 
the spiritual administrator of the soul, continues to be 
present with, and to guide, the powers which he at first 
created. When left to themselves, or when guided by 
any supposed power in man separate from God, they 
rush continually into error. 

4. The truth is, that any action of man’s faculties, 
without the presence and inspiration of the mighty 
master of the mind who made them, is not guidance, 
but merely action. If man is in harmony with his 
Maker, he is in harmony with all moral truths and rela- 
tions, and his faculties, under such circumstances, cannot 
fail to be rightly guided. Being in harmony with their 
Maker, their Maker becomes their life. If man is out of 
harmony with God, and just in proportion as this is the 
case, his faculties are not guided. ‘They may be said to 
act, and it is action only. Sometimes the action is 
violent. 'There is the action of impulse, the action of 
selfish passion, the action of contradiction and strife; but 
there is no true guidance. The rightful authority, the 


authority which would carry them to their true goal, :s 


in abeyance. Like another Phaéton, man has seized the 
reins of this chariot of fire; but'the steeds know that it 
is not the hand of the true Apollo, and, phrenzied in the 
want of that mastership which they need,.they rush 
wildly on to destruction. 


72 DIVINE UNION. 


5. In further support of the general doctrine, that all 
knowledge is in God, and that human knowledge is 
based upon the divine, we ray very justly make a dis- | 
tinction, which is applicable in some cases at least, 
between knowledge and the truth;—meaning by the | 
term truth, complete or perfected knowledge. And in this 
sense, whatever amount of knowledge man has, God — 


alone has the trutu. From no other source can the truth ~ 


come. It is impossible that man should have it, unless — 
he has it from God. ‘Truth, in the fragmentary ans of 
parts, in which form it is communicated to all created 
beings, can never be known as truth, and authenticated 
as such, except by some being who knows it as a whole, 
and knows it as it really is, and is, therefore, in a situa- 
tion to communicate it in parts. 'To us it must come in 
fragments, because our minds are not broad enough and 
deep enough to receive it in any other way. And this 
being the case, we can have no assurance that it is the 
truth; except so far as it comes from God. 

6. A man, for instance, performs a certain act. He 
knows what is done, so far as the present action is con- 
cerned. But not knowing the relations and ultimate 
effects of the action, his knowledge is imperfect. He 
cannot be said to have the truth in the case, certainly 
not the essential or absolute truth, because that action, 
of which he seems to have a full knowledge, may affect, 
favorably or unfavorably, the interests and happiness 
of thousands of beings, and for generations to come. 
And of this he does not even pretend to know. It is 
impossible, therefore, that we should take a single step 
with certainty and safety, however inconsiderable it may 
seem to be, except so far as we take God as our guide. 

7. Such are the views of enlightened reason on this 
subject. ‘The Scriptures, also, are abundantly explicit. 
They everywhere assert, either expressly or by implica- 


UNION IN KNOWLEDGE. 73 


tion, that man needs, and that he must have, a divine 
guidance. Without such guidance men do not under- 


stand, they have not a correct appreciation, even of that 


which is directly before them. Without the divine light 
placed in the centre, it will always be true, as is said of 
them in Matthew and in Isaiah, that ‘“ by hearing they 
Shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing they 
shall see, and shall not perceive.”* During forty years 
the miracles of God were performed in the wilderness, 
‘miracles of the most wonderful nature; but there was 
no correct appreciation of them, merely because there 
was an absence of God’s light in the soul, a want of the 
divine eye in the centre. Hence that remarkable pas- 
sage in Deuteronomy: ‘And Moses called unto all 
Israel, and said unto them, Ye have seen all that the 
Lord did before your eyes in the land of Egypt unto 
Pharaoh, and unto all his servants, and unto all his 
land; the great temptations which thine eyes have seen, 
the signs, and those great miracles; yet the Lord hath 
not given you a heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and 
ears to hear, unto this day.” 

8. Looking, therefore, at the subject in various points 
of view, we come to the conclusion, First, that all 
knowledge exists necessarily in God; sECONDLY, that 
human knowledge, so far as it can be called the truth, 
or true knowledge, is based upon the divine. ‘The fact 
is, that we can no more dissociate ourselves from God 
in the matter of knowledge, (understanding by the term, 
true knowledge or the truth,) than we can in that of 
physical existence. God did not create the body, which 
is the inferior and less difficult work, and leave the mind 
to create itself, And, on the other hand, man can no 
more create his mental nature than he can create his 


* Matt. 13: 14. 
7 


74 DIVINE UNION. 


physical nature. He can no more create the attributes 


of his mental nature, its powers or faculties, than he can 


create those of his physical nature. And if, in the exer- 
cise of the moral freedom with which he is endowed, 
he may make the effort, independently of God, to sustain 
them in their right exercise, the endeavor, however sin- 
cerely it may be made, will be found to be ineffectual. 
He will necessarily fail in all such efforts, because, in 
substituting the finite for the infinite, in resting upon 
himself instead of God, he has chosen means that are 
wholly inadequate to the result. The Saviour himself 
says, ‘I have not spoken of myself, [that is to say, by 
any source of knowledge or wisdom in myself,] but the 
Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, 
what I should say, and what I should speak.” Sepa- 
rate from God, therefore, we are separate from the truth. 

9. How wise, then, is the man, who, adopting these 
great principles, renounces his own wisdom as vain, and 
seeks the true wisdom in God alone! ‘The truth, or 
perfection, of man is realized, when, by his own volun- 
tary consent, he has God in him as the central principle, 
not more truly of his physical than of his mental nature. 
He neither alienates nor violates his moral freedom by 
accepting God as his teacher. On the contrary, it is 
then, and then only, that he realizes the consummation 
of his liberty. 

10. O Thou, who art the Truth, because thou hast 
all knowledge in thyself, and understandest all things 
in the end as well as in the beginning,’ guide us into the 
truth, that “the truth may make us free!” We have 
eyes, but without thee we see not;—‘we have ears, 
but without thee we hear not. ‘Incline our ears to 
wisdom, and apply our hearts to understanding.’””* 


* Prov. 2: 2. 


CHAPTER III. 


CHARACTERISTICS OF THE KNOWLEDGE WHICH IS FROM GOD. 


The divine authorship of knowledge not determined by the character 
of its object. — Illustrations. — Knowledge from God susceptible of 
every variety of form. — Knowledge from God, a gift.—Is always 
in harmony with existing providences. —It changes its object, but 
never wanders from its author. — Concluding remarks. 


Ir will be the object of this chapter to indicate some 
of the marks, or traits, that characterize the knowledge 
which is from God. 

The first remark, in regard to the knowledge which 
may properly be ascribed to God as its author, is, that its 
divine authorship is not necessarily determined by the 
character of the object, whatever it may be, to which 
such knowledge relates. God, for instance, may be an 
object of knowledge; but it does not follow, that to have 
knowledge of God is the same thing as to have knowl- 
edge from God. ‘The unbelieving philosopher, who 
explores the laws of nature, sometimes elevates his 
thoughts from the thing made to the Maker; but it can- 
not be said of him, certainly not in the proper and full 
sense of the terms, that he is a man taught of God. 
On the contrary, it is of this class of persons that the 
apostle Paul speaks, when he says, they know God 
without glorifying him as God. 

Many persons have an intimate knowledge of the 


76 DIVINE UNION. 


Bible in many respects. 'They are acquainted with its 
geography, its history, its poetry, its doctrines;—so— 
much so as to‘be in advance, in these particulars, of 
many devout Christians. But when we consider their 
unbelief, their immoralities, their practical disregard of 
the knowledge which they possess, we cannot with pro- 
priety speak of them as subjects of a divine teaching. 
The knowledge which they have is from themselves, 
and therefore is mixed with many errors, and often leads 
to the most unhappy results. The Pharisees, who were 
intimately acquainted with the writings of the Old Tes- 
tament, and had a personal knowledge of the Saviour, 
seem to be an illustration of these remarks. 

2. A second remark is, that divine knowledge, or that 
knowledge which is to be ascribed to God as its author, 
is susceptible of every possible variety of form. ‘This 
remark seems naturally to follow from what has already ~ 
been said. As the divine authorship of knowledge does 
not depend upon its objects, it follows that the knowl- 
edge which is from God is not limited to any particular 
class of objects, but is, or may be, knowledge upon all 
possible topics; upon things merely prudential; upon 
things of a moral or religious nature; upon all matters 
and things, whatever, which can possibly be the subjects 
of human thought. The thoughts, therefore, which God 
gives, are not necessarily thoughts of himself, nor of 
Christ, nor of the Holy Ghost, nor of heaven, nor of any 
particular person or theme mentioned in the Bible, how- 
ever interesting or sacred they may be supposed to be. 
A man in a right frame of mind may erect a house, or 
may lay out and cultivate his fields, or may build and 
send abroad his ship upon the ocean, and he may say 
with propriety, (and, indeed, ought always to be able to 
3ay so,) that, in doing these things, or any other things, 


UNION IN KNOWLEDGE. re 


he is called to do, he ts taught of God. It is God’s pre- 
rogative and delight to originate and direct a man’s 
thoughts in affairs of every day’s concern, in the prac- 
tice of his particular trade or calling, in the matter of his 
farm and merchandise, as well as in other things. As 
there is no object of thought in the whole universe which 
makes the thought itself either good or evil, so the prin- 
ciple of thought, subject only to a divine guidance, is 
' left free to range everywhere, and to select and to delight 
itself in everything which can be thought of. 

3. With these negative remarks, that the divine 
authorship of thoughts does not depend upon the objects 
to which they relate, and, also, that it is not limited to 
any particular class of objects, we proceed to say aflirm- 
atively, that the thoughts which are from God, just so 
far as they have a divine origin, are characterized by 
the fact that they are a gif¢ rather than an acquisition; 
— something originated from the Divine Mind, although 
it may and does have an inward and personal develop- 
ment. ‘The man who is taught of God will be inwardly 
conscious, without ceasing to be conscious of his personal 
activity and responsibility, or at least will have an 
inward and firm conviction, that he is the subject of 
communications which are not from himself. And as 
the result of these interior intimations, he will feel 
authorized in saying, as Christians in all ages have 
done, ‘‘ God hath given me understanding.”’ - 

‘We have received,” says the apostle Paul, “not the 
spirit which is of the world, but the spirit which is of 
God, that we might know the things chat are freely 
given to us of Giod ; which things also we speak, not in 
the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the 
Holy Ghost teacheth.” 1 Cor. 2: 12, 13. In avery 
remarkable passage, which is worthy of the most serious 

7% 


78 DIVINE UNION. 


consideration, the blessed Saviour himself says, And 
ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my 
sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles. 
But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or 
what ye shall speak, for it shall be given you in that 
same hour what ye shall speak. For it is not ye that 
speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in 
you.” | : 

A. It may be remarked, again, that the knowledge 
which is of divine origin is characterized, in the second 
place, by always being in harmony with existing provi- 
dences; that is to say, it will be found appropriate to 
the incidents of time, place, and circumstances. 

God, being perfect, is always in harmony with him- 
self. His acts are not discordant. If God originates 
thoughts in.a man, he will always make them in keep- 
ing with the time, the place, and situation. The holy 
man, having his thoughts from God, although he thinks 
on a great variety of subjects, thinks just what he ought 
to think. He thinks of eternity or of time, of God or of 
the creatures of God, of himself or of his neighbor; and 
he thinks of each in the appropriate time and degree of 
thinking. And the thoughts which he bestows on what 
are sometimes called worldly objects, coming as they do 
from God, are not less acceptable to him from whom 
they came, than the apparently but not really more 
religious thoughts which he has in a place of worship. 

5. Another, and third, characteristic of the knowledge 
which originates from God, is, that the thoughts which 
God imparts can never be said to wander from himself. 
It is true that they often change their objects; but the 
fact of a change of object does not necessarily imply an 
alienation or change of authorship. Varying with the 
character of the person who is the subject of them, and 


UNION IN KNOWLEDGE. 79 


with the situations in which he is placed, they diversify 
themselves very much, and attach themselves to a multi- 
tude of objects; but so long as it can be said of them 
that they come from God, it can also be said that they 
carry God with them wherever they go. They never 
wander from God. True to their centre of origin, they 
bear upon their wings, in their widest and most eccentric 
flights, the light and love of the Divinity. Like the bee 
that lights upon flowers of every form and hue, they find 
the honey of God’s presence everywhere. 

This is an important view to persons whose shattered 
nerves embarrass and weaken their mental action, or 
whose imaginations, naturally active and vivid, are not 
perfectly under the ‘control of the will. Whether it be 
owing to too great strength or too great weakness, God 
will never condemn them for the direction which their 
thoughts take, so long as he is allowed to go with them. 

6. We conclude this topic with one remark more. 
God, as the giver of thought, acts as a sovereign. He 
not only inspires and guides mental action in those who 
have fully given themselves to him, but he sometimes 
represses it. A God equally in the light and the dark- 
ness, he gives and he withholds as he thinks best. Nor 
should this cause us any dissatisfaction. A view of a 
thing which gives us only very imperfect knowledge, 
if it comes from God, is better than perfected knowledge 
which comes from any other source. It is sometimes 
well for us to be ignorant, in order that, having a sense 
of our ignorance, we may appreciate more fully the 
source of true wisdom. The ignorance of the intellect, 
when it is properly understood, can hardly fail to teach a 
valuable lesson of humility to the dispositions. Faith, 
also, which is excluded by perfect knowledge, may is 
taught in the same way. And whenever and wherever 


80 DIVINE UNION. 


it can be said of a man that he is taught of God, it can 
also be said that he is a humble and believing man. 

“Tf any man among you seemeth to be wise in this 
world,” says the apostle, “ let him become a fool, that 
he may be wise.” 1 Cor. 3:18. “The weapons of 
our warfare,” he says, in another passage, ‘‘are not 
carnal, but mighty, ¢hrough God, to the pulling down of 
strong holds, casting down imaginations, and every 
high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of 
God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the 
obedience of Christ.” 


CHAPTER’ TY. 


ON THE GRADUAL DEVELOPMENT OF DIVINE KNOWLEDGE. 


The knowledge of God always the same. — Communicated to men in 
fragments or parts, and at successive periods of time. — The divine 
communication always modified by changes of circumstances. — Of 
the truths appropriate to particular periods of history. —Ushered in 
by appropriate preparations. — Illustrations. — The coming of Christ. 


Aut knowledge is in God, without addition and with- 
out change. His knowledge, as we have been enabled 
to see in the remarks of the preceding chapters, is not 
knowledge by acquisition, but knowledge by nature. 
As knowledge exists in God by nature, it exists there 
without beginning and without end, and is as full and 
permanent as the divine existence is; — embracing and 
absorbing in its infinity all other forms and degrees of 
knowledge. God never knew more, and never knew 
less, and never knew otherwise, than he now does. 

When, therefore, we propose to speak of the gradual 
development of the divine knowledge, which is the 
subject of the present chapter, we do not mean the grad- 
ual development of God’s knowledge to himself, but to 
his creatures. 

2. It is hardly necessary to say, that the creatures 
of God, however exalted they may be, are unable, from 
a want of mental capacity, to receive all the knowledge 
which God has. They can be the recipients of the 
divine knowledge only in part; and such is the constitu- 
tion of created minds, that they receive the knowledge 


82 DIVINE UNION. 


which they have, not simultaneously, but in successive ) 
periods of time, and generally in small portions. And | 


thus every moment, always commissioned with its ap- 


propriate message, reveals something new; furnishing, — 


as it passes by, a new channel of communication, a new 
opening between the divine mind and created minds. 
And in this way God is revealed to us, if we are ina 
situation to understand and receive him, moment by 
moment. He refreshes us with the daily and continual 
bread of knowledge. 


3. Ordinarily this knowledge 1s particular, and has 


relation to our own persons, and our owh affairs ; 


but it always comes to us with the freshness of a new 


communication, because it is always modified by the 


circumstances of the existing moment. The bright or — 


clouded sky of to-day is not the sky of yesterday. ‘The 
man of to-day is not the same man, nor surrounded by 
the same influences, nor the subject of the same provi- 
dences, as the man of yesterday. ‘There are forms or 


modifications of knowledge, appropriate to the conditions — 


of youth and age, of poverty and riches, of subjection 


and government, and of other conditions, which are mod-_ 


ified by the changes of each passing hour. The knowl- 
edge, therefore, which is appropriate and necessary now, 
could not have been equally appropriate and necessary 
in any antecedent period. It comes, therefore, with the 
attribute of novelty; and as it is necessary in order to 


the fulfilment of duty, it is always acceptable and , 


refreshing to the consecrated and pious soul. 


A. But God develops truth, which is appropriate to — 
communities and nations,-+as well as to individuals. 
Some of the general truths, which are held in the keep- 
ing of divine wisdom, are especially appropriate, in the 


view of that wisdom, to particular periods in the history 


UNION IN KNOWLEDGE. 83 


of the world. 'The truth, both that which is particular 
and that which is general, though eternal by generation, 
has its announcement, its birth, in time. So that knowl- 
edge, as well as everything else, has its providence. 
The Saviour himself said to his disciples on a ecrtain 
occasion: “I have many things to say unto you, but 
ye cannot bear them now.” 'The wisdom of Providence 
appreciates not only the thing to be done, but the time 
of doing it; not only the truth to be communicated, but 
the position of those who are to hear and to receive it. 
The announcement to the patriarchs, which confirmed 
the forbearance and goodness of God, inspired hope. 
‘In thy seed,” said God to Abraham, “shall all the 
nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed 
my voice.” ‘I'he declarations of the law of Sinai, re- 
vealed in the terrible emblems of thunder and fire, dis- 
closed the height from which men had fallen, in showing 
the purity and greatness of the God against whom they 
had rebelled. And thus, from time to time, there have 
been developments of the divine thought and the divine 
purpose, suited to the existing condition of things, and 
the gradually fulfilling destinies of humanity. 

5. It is not enough to say, that every great moral 


truth has its appropriate time, as well as its appropriate 


character. It will be found, also, that every such truth, 
(and the same may be said of every great political and 
scientific truth, ) will be ushered in by preparations and 
instrumentalities which are especially suited to it. And 
this is so much the case, that the truth cannot possibly 
come, at least it cannot possibly be received and appre- 


_ ciated as truth, independently of such preparations. It 
_ was necessary that civilization should advance to a cer- 
_ tain degree, before the Athenians were “prepared to 
| receive and to carry out the truth involved in the institu- 


84 DIVINE UNION. 


tions of Solon. But as soon, in the course of Providence, 


as the preparations were completed, God constituted and | 
sent forth the thought, if we may so express it, that is 


to say, the legislative mind, that was appropriate to the 
time and the mission. Whether the Grecian legislator 
knew and recognized himself as the subject of a divine 
instrumentality, or, being gifted with the possessions of 
wisdom, was ignorant of the God who gave and directed 


them, makes no difference as to the fact. And thus God — 
has his forerunners, and his preparations, and his instru- 


ments, not only in legislation, but in science, in morals, 
in everything. 

6. Romulus, the founder of the Roman state, was 
not an inhabitant of Judea, but was born in a region 


very remote, and at that time entirely unknown to the 


Jews. But it was necessary that Romulus, who sus- 
tained relations unknown to himself, should make his 


appearance in the world, that he should have his birth | 


on the banks of the Tiber, and that he should accom- 
plish his work as the author of new and important 
institutions, before Christ came. The Roman empire, 
which dates from the grandson of Numitor, was estab- 


lished, and extended its arms over the world, and brought 


all nations into one, in order to furnish a suitable oppor- 
tunity for the entrance of truth into the world, in the 
person of the Prince of peace. | 

7. In the fulness of time the Son of God came. But 
he did not and could not come until all the requisite 


preparations were fulfilled. As Jesus came in his appro- 
priate time, so he came with his appropriate mission. 


The messages of patriarchs and prophets, and of wise 


men, in various ages of the world, according to the light 


which had been given to them, had been communicated 
to the world. But the imperfect revelation of those who 


UNION IN KNOWLEDGE. 85 


had gone before was made clearer, and established with 
‘stronger confirmations at the coming of Christ. 

‘God, who at sundry times, and in divers manners, 
spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, 
hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son.”’* 
God had a revelation of truth, which neither the circum- 
stances of the earlier times, nor the imperfections of the 
earlier teachers, allowed to be made before. When the 
time came, the truth was made known. But it is to be 
remarked further, that in a world of error the truth can- 
not come into full development without a struggle. 
Those, therefore, who announce and illustrate the truth, 
are necessarily called to endure trials. Accordingly, 
Christ was a sufferer, as well as a teacher. Perhaps we 
ought to say, in view of the circumstances of his life, 
that he taught im suffering, and by suffering. Certain it 
is, that his message, which was spoken in tears, and 
sometimes in agony, was at last written in blood. In 
those sublime words, uttered upon the cross, 17 1s 
FINISHED, men learned the memorable, the overwhelming 
truth, of a redemption completed. 

8. In the teachings of the Saviour and his followers, 
uttered on various occasions, we have many important 
truths, not fully understood at the time when uttered, 
and perhaps not fully understood now, but which will be 
comprehended when lighted up by Providence, and when 
seen in the renewed and adequate preparation of the 
- human mind. One of the great announcements to which 
_we refer, is the truth of universal brotherhood, involving 
the cessation of war, and the restoration of universal 
peace. This is a truth which may be said to be written 
in letters of light on the pages of the Gospel; but the 


#iep. 1: 1,2; 
8. 
* 


| 


86 : DIVINE UNION. 


human mind, being thrown out of its true position by 
sin, has not been able to receive it until very lately. A 
century or more since, the doctrines of universal peace 
were proposed and illustrated in Europe, by Castel de 


St. Pierre, a learned French ecclesiastic; but were 


received with incredulity, ani very much as if he were 
preaching a dream. ‘They have been propounded again 
within a few years, and after the experience of an addi- 
tional century of fighting and destruction. They now 
everywhere meet with a respectful hearing. It is the 
Same in other instances. There are other practical: 
truths, — truths originating in the divine mind, and 
Abudtis from God to man through the mind of Christ, — 
which shave received a new development, and which 


the providence of God is holding up for a new and gen-. 


eral reception in the present age ; — the religion of Christ 
in its simplicity, the reign of the Holy Ghost, the rela- 


tion of temperance to happiness, the universality of civil — 


freedom, the rights of moral and religious belief, universal 
education, and in every heart a living and triumphant 
holiness, modelled on that of the Saviour. 

9. God is moving on the troubled waters. It was 
thus in the beginning. There was a time when the 
beauty of nature was an idea, undeveloped and unreal- 
ized. Light existed in God, ‘‘ but darkness was on the 
face of the deep.” No sun was then, no star, no swelling 
and teeming earth. ‘The earth was without form and 
void;” but when the time came for the realization of the 
truth and beauty of the divine idea in material forms, 
then “the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the 
waters.” ‘The confusion of chaos stood rebuked; the 
light shone; the waters subsided to their ee the 
blooming anh appeared. 

At this moment, at this eventful hour in the hee 


. 


cae i 


Bet 


UNION IN KNOWLEDGE. 87 


‘of eternal wisdom, the Spirit of the same creating God 


is secretly, but powerfully, moving on the troubled and 
chaotic ocean of humanity. ‘The chaos, which is pre- 
sented before us on every side, is wider, and deeper, and 
darker, than that of primitive nature, because it is the 
terrible chaos of moral rebellion. But here, too, the 
Spirit of God will be conqueror. He, who separated the 
contending elements of nature, and recombined them 
into forms of wisdom and. loveliness, will not be baffled. 
in his great attempt to erect and consolidate ‘‘the king- 
dom of God,’’ out of the confusions of a fallen nature. 


CHAPTER V. 


ON THE UNION OF GOD AND MAN IN KNOWLEDGE. 


‘Limitations of the general statement.— Union in knowledge involves 
three things, namely, union in the motive, the object, and the source 
of knowledge. — Results and encouragements attending the union 
of God and man in these respects. 


TE result of Christ’s coming into the world, and of 
the sanctifying power which is communicated through 
him, will be to restore man to harmony with God in all 
parts of his nature. In an important sense it will be 
found true that man and God, who have been greatly 
Separated in this as well as in other respects, will at last 
be united again in knowledge. 

It should be remarked, however, that, when we speak 
of the union of human with divine knowledge, we do not 
mean to say that our knowledge, under the most favor- 
able circumstances, will be as extensive as the divine 
knowledge, which would be impossible; nor that we 
shall be likely in the present life, (certainly not in the 
present period of the world,) to see the facts and relations 
of things with a divine distinctness of vision. This 
would be inconsistent with that injured and imperfect 
instrumentality of perception which is found in our dis- 
eased and dying bodies. But being united with God in 
knowledge, we shall see and know ¢ruly, though it may 
not be to a great extent. Weshall know as God knows, 
and entirely in harmony with him, so far as he thinks it 


Sr S 


UNION IN KNOWLEDGE. 89 


best for us to know. Our wisdom will have its basis in 
his, and will rest upon his, in such a way as to constitute 
true wisdom. 

With these explanatory remarks in view, we proceed 
to say, that the union of God and man in knowledge 
involves three things:—first, an union of desire or 
motive in seeking knowledge; secondly, an unity or 
oneness in the object of knowledge; and, thirdly, an 
unity in the source of knowledge. 

First, there must be an union of desire or moéive in 
seeking knowledge. ‘The motive in which God. conde- 
scends to unite, is a motive free from everything that is © 
the opposite af God. It is a motive without private 
ends, without selfishness in any of its aims, a motive 
which harmonizes with God’s character, with God’s 
purposes, with God’s glory. It was a motive thus pure 
and. elevated, which always influenced him who came. 
into the world to be the leader and guide of men. ‘“ My 
judgment,” says the Saviour, ‘‘is just, because I seek not 
mine own will, but the will Wy the Father which hath sent 
me.” John 5: 30. 

To seek the will of our etait Father, is to act, in all 
cases of action, without party prejudices, without private 
interests, without the violence of passion; but always with 
a sincere regard to the divine purposes. In this state of 
mind, which is most suitable for the constant presence 
and operations of the Holy Spirit, we may hope to be 
guided into the truth. It would be difficult to describe 
how easily and beautifully the light of true knowledge 
enters into the mind of one who is thus free from any 
influences except such as come from a regard to the 
will of God. We cannot then be easily separate from 
the truth, because we harmonize, in such an important 


respect, with a mind that lives in the truth. 
Q¥ 


90 DIVINE UNION. 


2. In the second place, the union of God and man in’ 


knowledge implies the fact of an unity or oneness in the 
object of knowledge. That is to say, the object must be 
not one of our own choice, but of God’s choice. And it 
may be added, here, that the object which God chooses 
and presents to the human mind for its consideration, is 
that object, whatever it may be, which entirely harmo- 
nizes with the existing state of things. 'The facts and 
relations of things are so ordered under the divine admin- 


istration, that at each successive moment some things 
are more important to be known, and more appropriate — 


to be known than anything else. God, as the true 
revealer of what now is and of what is to be hereafter, 


will help us to know only what he thinks ought to be 


known. He will not help us in the knowledge of those 
things which, considered as the objects of knowledge, — 


may be regarded as inconsistent with the proprieties and 


wants of the present time and place, and of the existing | | 


situation of things. He will not help us in the knowl- 
edge of those things which, without a regard to the ap- 
propriateness of what now is, are sought merely to 
gratify a selfish curiosity. In all such inquiries, where 
we selfishly choose our own object instead of adopting 
and receiving the object which God presents, the human 
and divine mind are out of harmony. 

On the contrary, when we seek to know only what 
God would have us know, which is always done when 
our minds perfectly harmonize with the intimations 
of Providence, then the object of knowledge becomes one 


and the same to him who imparts knowledge and to him 3 


who receives it; and God and man are in union. ih 


3. And this view, it may be properly added, is the 
more interesting and the more practically important, 
because it so fully recognizes God as the judge of what is 


@Sy 


UNION IN KNOWLEDGE. 91 


proper or not proper to be known. Sovereign here-as in 
other things, he not only retains the right and the power 
of communicating knowledge, but of communicating 
what, in his own judgment, he sees to be best. It is 
obviously not possible for him to communicate all knowl- 
edge to a limited mind, that can receive it only in parts. 
Adjusting, therefore, what he imparts not only to the 
capacity of the recipient but to the attendant circum- 
stances, he gives here a little and there a little: casting 
brightness around the skirts of the clouds which over- 
hang us, mingling light with darkness and darkness 
with light, so that those who walk in some things in the 
day of open vision, may still be said in other things to 
walk in ‘the night of faith.” 

4. Again, we may properly speak of the union of God 
and man in knowledge, when there is an unity in the 
source of knowledge. There is and can be but one true 
source of knowledge. Man, who possesses only what is 
given him, is unable to originate knowledge from him- 
self. He can have no true knowledge, no true wisdom, 
but that which comes from a divine source. 

The great Author of his powers, it is true, has given 
him instruments of perception, comparison, and reason- 
ing, with which he can apply to the original fountain or 
ocean of truth, which exists in God himself. ‘Through 
these instruments knowledge is conveyed from the source 
to the recipient. And it is not more true that the help- 
less infant derives its nourishment from the bosom of its 
mother, than that the soul, which is in full union with 
God, receives the nutriment of knowleuge from God. 
All that such an one has to do, in securing this result, is 
to pray that God will direct the instruments he has 
made;—believing that he will do so in behalf of the 
souls who have given themselves fully to him, and who 


92 DIVINE UNION. 


have faith. God will not do this for the soul which has _ 
not laid itself upon his altar. Give thyself to God, there- 


fore, without reserve, and in the exercise of a childlike ‘ 5 
confidence, and he, who has promised to teach men, iit se 


not fail to impart true wisdom. 
5. It is in this state of things,—the state in which man 


is united with God in wisdom,—that we find the truth of ae 


‘that interesting passage of Scripture, “The secret of the © 
Lord is with them that fear him, and he will show them. 

his covenants.”’* No longer a God afar off, he assumes — 
a position of friendship and intimacy, and converses 


with them, as it were, face to face. By secret intima- : 
tions, which are not the less true for being silent, he ae 
explains the doctrines of righteousness, and shows the 


signs of his coming. 
6. And, we may properly add, it is in this state of 
things that we find one great ground of encouragement 


and hope. Knowledge is power even on human princi- © p 


ples, and when it is infused more or less with human 


error. What, then, shall be the power of God’s people, — : 


when it shall be said of them, in the language of the 
prophets and of the Saviour, “And they shall be all 
taught of God”2+ “IT will give you a mouth and 
wisdom,” says the Saviour in another place, ‘‘ which all 
your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor re- 
sist.” True it is that the voice of mere human wisdom, 
when assuming an adverse position, has but little power 
against the voice of God speaking from a holy heart. 
And when the heart of the church shall become holy, so 
that the voice of the church shall be synonymous with a 
declaration from the God of the church, then shall the 
deaf hear and the unbelieving be convinced. 


* Ps. 24: 14. + John 6: 20. $ Luke 21: 15. 


UNION IN KNOWLEDGE. 93 


OH, SEND ONE RAY INTO MY SIGHTLESS BALL. 


Uh, send one ray into my sightless ball, 

Transmit one beam into my darkened heart! 

On thee, Almighty God, on thee I call, 

Incline thy listening ear, thine aid impart! 

In vain the natural sun his beams doth yield, 

In vain the moon illumes the fields of air; 

The eye-sight of my soul is quenched and sealed, 
And what is other light if shades are there? 
Beyond the sun and moon I lift my gaze, 

Where round thy throne a purer light is spread, 
Where seraphs fill their urns from that bright blaze, 
And angels’ souls with holy fires are fed. 

Oh, send from that pure fount one quickening ray, 
And change these inward shades to bright and glorious day! 


PART FOURTH. 
ON THE LOVE OF GOD, AND THE UNION OF GOD AND AN i 
IN LOVE. | 


CHAPTER I. 


ON THE NATURE OF PURE OR HOLY LOVE. 


Love has a nature of its own. — No love without an object of love.— _ 
Its nature is to seek its object without a view to reward. — Existence | 
the object of pure love. —Its attractive power.— Pure or holy love 
illustrated in the Saviour. — All holy beings have this love. 


Union with God in knowledge is preparatory to union 
with him in love. In the order of nature, knowledge is _ 
first in time; but love has the preéminence in excellence. 
As it is a principle nearer the centre of the soul, it attracts _ 
and concentrates in itself, if we may so express it, more — | 
of the soul’s life. ‘We proceed now to the consideration i. 
of this great principle. 5 

Love, like everything else, has its own nature. Not i 
identical with any other affection, and not explainable 
by the laws which are appropriate to any other affec-_ q 
tion, it stands by itself, in its own entity, in its own 
piiibiites and form.. And being. thus separate from 
every other affection, there is something true of it, which 
is not true of anything else. It is, therefore, a — 
imate subject of analysis and description. 


UNION IN LOVE. 95 


2. It is hardly necessary to say, in offering some 


_ explanations on this subject, that love always has an 
“object. Love, without an object of love, would be incon- 
-ceivable. It would be as difficult to conceive of such 
love, as it would be to conceive of an act of memory 
without something remembered, or of an act of percep- 
tion without something perceived. And it is proper to 


add, that this object, although it does not necessarily 
exclude a regard to a person’s own interests, is generally 


_ found in interests which are beyond and out of ourselves. 


Hence it is a common remark, that true or pure love is 
self-forgetting. 
3. Again, it is one of the traits of love, that it does not 


, remain quiescent in him who is the subject of it, but has 
a tendency (a tendency which is inherent, and consti- 
_ tutes a part of its nature) to move or flow out to its 
_ object, whatever that object may be. It is the object 


which indicates the channel in which it must flow, and 


| which constitutes, also, the termination of its movement. 
Summoned into being by its appropriate object, it exists 
| without effort; and, flowing in the channel which truth 
and nature have marked out for it, it asks no reward. 
If it expected or asked for anything, which might prop- 


erly be denominated the recompense or reward of its 
own existence, it would cease to be love. And accord- 
ingly, if it be required to give a reason for its existence, 


(separate from that of reward, which it does not recog- 
nize as areason,) it can only say, it loves because it 


cannot help it, or because it has a nature which makes 
it love. But such an answer, if it fails to announce a 
reason, at least announces a fact; a fact, which, if 


'.Teason fails to prove, it also fails to annul. No one asks 


why the sun shines when it is above the horizon. And 
the light of love, like the light of the natural sun, when- 


96 DIVINE UNION. 


ever the appropriate occasion is furnished, shines by — 
spontaneous diffusion. Love, therefore, is not a thing 


which rests upon something else, and which can be ana- 


lyzed into antecedent elements; but is rather a life, a 
permanence, something essential, something which exists . 


by itself, and does not rest on any other basis. And 


thus, being a life or nature, it acts itself out as a nature, — 


without thinking or asking why it does it ; —just asa 
man breathes, or thinks, or remembers, or imagines, 
without reflecting or asking why he does it. 


4. We have already said that love necessarily has its _ 
object. ‘The object of pure love (and we regard.this as — 


an important remark) is existence; all percipient and 


sentient existence whatever. So that love, in distinction - 
from every appearance and modification of affection 
which is not true or pure love, may be defined to be a 
desire for the good or happiness of everything which exists. 


And, in accordance with this view, everything which 
has a being, from the highest to the lowest, whatever its 
position, whatever its character, the whole infinity of — 


percipient and sentient existence, simply because it has 


such an existence, is the appropriate object of pure love. 
This is a great truth, and one which, it must be — 
admitted, is difficult to be realized by those who have 


not an instinct of perception and of affirmation in their 
own purified hearts. 'Those who are the subjects of this 
exalted feeling sincerely desire the happiness of all 
those, whoever or whatever they may be, who are capa- 
ble of enjoying happiness, while, at the same time, it 


may be so, that they disapprove ia perhaps even hate — 


their Paaracien and, accordingly, they love the evil as: 
well as the nay sinners as well as saints. 

Another characteristic of holy love is, that it is attract-— 
we; that is to say, its beauty is so diving: that, by its 


a 


UNION IN LOVE. 97 


own nature, it arrests the attention, and draws all things 
to itself that are capable of perceiving its beauty. It is 
not necessary for it to use efforts to produce this effect. 


This remarkable power is an essential power; some- 


thing inherent in it. It has it, because it cannot be 
without it. Even natural beauty has something of this 
power. ‘Ihe flower that blooms by the wayside, the 
star that shines in the evening sky, attracts the eye of 
the beholder, and commands his attention. The power 
exists, though it may be difficult to explain it. And, if 
this power is possessed by natural beauty, still more is 
it possessed by moral beauty. He, therefore, who pos- 
Sesses the highest of moral elements, that of pure love, 
operating by that attractive power which is eternal as 
the love from which it springs, must and will be loved 
in return, whether he be God, angel, or man. All that 
is necessary is, that this moral beauty be clearly per- 
ceived, which, however, is never done, and is not pos- 
sible to be done, when the mind is darkened by sin. 

We have a striking illustration of the nature of pure 
love in the case of the Saviour. He loved sinners. “He 
came not to call the righteous, but sinners to ‘repent- 
ance.” It was not for angels, but for erring men, that 
he died. He bowed his head upon the cross for those 
that persecuted him, reviled him, slew him. He loved 
men, not because they were good, for such they were 
not, and certainly not because they were evil, because 
evil can never be the foundation of love, but because 
they were existences, — percipient and moral existences, 


He saw them created with the elements of an eternal 


being, but destitute, in their fallen state, of those attri- 

butes which would make that being a happy one. He 

saw them destitute of truth which they might possess, 

of holiness to which they were strangers, the enemies 
9 | 


98 DIVINE UNION. 


of God when they might be his friends, the heirs of hell 
when they might be the heirs of heaven. He loved 
them, therefore, not because they were good, but because 
they had a sentient, and especially because they had a 
moral, existence. It was their existence and not their 
merit; it was what they were capable of being, and not 
what they were, which brought him down from heaven. 


CHAPTER IT. 


ON THE SCRIPTURE DECLARATION THAT ‘‘GOD IS LOVE.” 


S 
Of the infinity of God.— Something more needed.—God love by 
essence. — The subject argued from the relations he sustains. — 
Argued also from the rectitude or right of things. — Argument from 
the happiness of God. — Other views. 


Havine made, in the preceding chapter, some general 
statements in regard to the nature of love, we now pro- 
ceed to consider it as existing in God. We must under- 
stand the relations of this principle to God, — in other 
words, we must understand what God’s love is, before 
we can understand the union of God and man in love. 
And in doing this our attention is first arrested by the 
declaration of the Scriptures, —a declaration which is 
worthy of the particular notice of Christians, — that 
“God is love.” It would be difficult to find a parallel 
form of expression. It is not anywhere said of God, so 
far as we recollect, that he is omniscience, or that he is 
omnipresence. It is true that the attributes of omnisci- 
ence and omnipresence are essential to him as an infinite 
existence; but it should always be remembered that God 
is something more than infinity. ‘There must be some- 
thing beyond and above infinity, which shall baptize it 
with the character of goodness; otherwise there is no 
God. § God is Love.” ws 4 

2. God is love by essence. That is to say, love is 
forever and unchangeably essential to his existence as 


Lo 


100 DIVINE UNION. 


God. He was not at first, as some may be led to sup- 
pose, a mere percipient being, having all knowledge, 
who formed conjecturally an idea of love, came to the 


conclusion that it was a good and desirable thing, and 


then added it as an accessory to his original existence. 
On the contrary, God always had a heart; always had 
a true and effective sensibility, operating, by an eternal 
law of action, in the line of right and goodness. And if, 
by universal consent, the heart takes the precedence of 
the head, — if no greatness of intellect can elevate and 
Save a man who has evil and depraved affections, — then — 
God cannot be what he is, the infinitely desirable and 
infinitely good, without love as the central. and leading 
element, the basis and the completion of his character. 

3. The mere statement carries conviction in itself, 
But this is not all. We argue the matter also from the 
relations of things. God, considered as the Infinite, or 
I am, sustains a fixed and necessary relation to every- 
thing which is. His relation to space is realized and 
fulfilled in his omnipresence. His relation to duration 
finds its expression and fulfilment in his eternity. His 
relation, as an infinite and perfect being, to objects of 
knowledge, is realized and fulfilled in his omniscience. 
His relation to percipient and sentient beings, to all 
beings that are susceptible of happiness, is corresponded 
to and completed by his dove ; or, what is the same thing, 
by his desire of their happiness. So that it may be said, 
that he is present to and envelopes time by his eternity, 
space by his omnipresence, all things knowable by his 
omniscience, and all percipient and sentient existences 
by his Love. And as there can be no God without 
eternity, no God without omniscience and omnipresence, 
so, still more truly and emphatically, there can be no 
God without love. Take away love, and then, in dis- 


UNION IN LOVE. 101 


tinction from the infinity of his natural existence, 
* nothing which constitutes God, remains ; nothing to give 
birth to happy existences, nothing to protect them and to 
secure their happiness, nothing to give them confidence, 
nothing lovely, and nothing to be loved. ‘Fake away 
love from the divine nature, and what would remain 
would be either an infinite indifferent being, or an infi- 
nite Satan. 

4. And, again, we argue that ‘‘ God is love,’ because, 
without love as the permanent and controlling element 
of his nature, the rectitude or right of things could not 
be sustained. 

There is, and must be, in the divine nature, every- 
thing that is expressed in the word ought ; everything 
which corresponds to the claims of right and obligation ; 
everything which ought to be. That we ought to love 
existence, simply because it is existence; that we ought 
to desire, and seek, and love the happiness of all who 
exist, simply because they do exist and are susceptible 
of happiness, is an affirmation founded on the spontane- 
ous intimations of the moral sense, and which, therefore, 
is antecedent to and above reasoning. It is none the less 
a truth because it is suggested rather than deduced; 
because it is given by its own impulse of revelation, 
rather than extracted by the researches of a power dis- 
tinct from and out of itself. The right or obligation of 
things is a law which exists by itself, which discloses its 
own exigencies and proclaims its own veracity; asking 
no counsel or support from that which is imperfect or 
created; never going back of or above itself for another 
and higher motive of action; but standing alone, immu- 
table, universal, and eternal. On this ground, therefore, 
we affirm that God is love, namely, because he owght to 
be. 'Thevoice of our moral nature, which is the voice of 

9* 


102 DIVINE UNION. 


God himself, proclaims that it cannot be otherwise. He — 
loves, he must love, he cannot help loving everything 
which exists. if 

5. Again, God is love, (the attribute of love constitut- 
ing the essential and controlling part of his nature,) 
because, without love, he cannot be a happy being. 
Whatever may be regarded as the true elements of hap- 
piness, it is certain that permanency is essential to it. 
And it is a great truth, verified by universal experience 
as well as by enlightened reason, that there cannot be 
permanent happiness, if indeed there can be happiness at 
all, separate from love. It is hardly necessary to say 
that indifference is not happiness. It may not be misery, 
but it certainly cannot be happiness. Hatred, which 
is the opposite of love, and which of course must 
exist, if there is neither love nor indifference, is not hap- 
piness. On the contrary, there are always painful feel- 
ings involved in and attending it. God, therefore, if 
eternity is essential to his character, and if love is the 
foundation of happiness, is either eternal love, or must 
be described in terms which are abhorrent in the very 
utterance, as eternal misery. But a view of God, which 
characterizes him as miserable, is inadmissible. Love, 
then, taking it for granted that he is and ever will bea 
happy being, is an essential part of his everlasting 
nature. 

6. Again; love, by which we mean pure or holy 
love, cannot by any possibility exist in any but an Infi- 
nite Being, or in those beings who rest on the Infinite. 
Plants and flowers might as well grow upon rocks 
where there is no earth, as pure love grow out of the 
finite ;—-we mean the finite, standing alone and sustained 
by its own strength. Such is the nature of this love, 
transcending as it does all limited interests, that it claims 


UNION IN LOVE. 103 


a natural and necessary affinity with the unlimited. All 
other love is bounded. Pure love knows no bounds. It 
does not ask whether the object of its regard is good or 
evil, a friend or an enemy. It transcends the restric- 
tions, which are multiplied and piled up one upon 
another, of human passion and interest, and gives its 
affections without reward. Strong in its own divinity, 
it “‘casts out fear.” Fear, which has no place in the 
infinite, is the necessary law of inferiority, except where 
the weak are united with the strong. All beings that 
are not God and are not united with God, in neither 
being the source of things nor being united with .that 
great and benevolent source, are condemned to selfish- 
ness by their position, and are condemned to weakness 
and sorrow, to fear and shame, by their selfishness. 
Having nothing else to rest upon, their thoughts and 
their love turn to themselves. Pure love, which rejects 
all such restrictions, they have not and cannot have. 
But God’s love, growing out of and constituting, or at 
least perfecting, a nature which is infinite, and which in 
being infinite knows no partial interests and has no fear, 
reaches all, encircles all, blesses all. 

7. ‘The declaration of the apostle, that God is love, is 
not a mere figure of speech. It does not merely mean, 
that he can love, or that he does love in some degree. 
The expression is emphatic, full of meaning. ‘Its import 
has already been explained. And we add here, it cannot 
be too often repeated, in relation to God, that love stands 
_as the centre of his being. Far more than anything else, 
it is the essential element of his life as God. | 

It is true, it is preceded in the order of nature by faith. 
This we have already had occasion to notice. In the 
natural order, faith is the antecedent of love; and is also 
its necessary condition. But while it can be truly said 


TOR DIVINE UNION. 


that both faith and love have their appropriate place, and 
that both are essential; it is also true that love, con- - 


sidered as an element of the divine nature, stands nearer 


the centre of existence, and contains in itself the motive 3 


or active principle of being. All other things are subor- 
dinate to it. Infinite space and infinite time are its 
locality ; infinite knowledge is its minister and hand- 
maid; the conscience is its guard, pronouncing within 


and without its moral value; the will executes its — 


decrees; but the moving principle, the essence, the life 


of the infinite as God, that which gives inspiration to_ 


knowledge, motion to power, and impulse to the will, is, 
and must be, Love. 


CHAPTER III. 


ON THE LOVE OF EXISTENCE IN DISTINCTION FROM THE LOVE 
; OF CHARACTER. 


Illustrations of the love of existence. —The mother and her sons. — 
The wife and her husband. — Other illustrations. — Deductions from 
these views. — On the love of our enemies. — Without this love we 
cannot be the sons of God. 


Pure love, as we have already had occasion to remark, 
is the love of existence or being, independently of charac- 
ter. Undoubtedly such love is remote from the common 
apprehension and experience ; so much so that its nature 
is difficult to be understood and appreciated by most per- 
sons. Some further illustrations, therefore, — illustrations 
drawn from the situations and acts of those around us, 
—will aid us in a just view of the subject. 

2. There lives in yonder dwelling a humble and 
praying mother, who has two sons; one of whom is 
eminent for his virtues, the other is equally distinguished 
for his vices. 'The virtuous son she not only loves with 


the love of benevolence, which is the same as the love of 


existence or being, but with the love of complacency. 
In other words, she not only loves him, but delights in 
him. His character, as well as his existence, commands 
her affections, and brings a rich reward. 

But the other son is the son of her sorrow. He is 
deformed in person, ferocious in mind, addicted to unholy 
indulgences, and to all human appearance evil and only 


106 ‘DIVINE UNION. 


evil. But, notwithstanding these unfavorable circum. 


stances, the love of her child, separating as it does his 
existence from his character, never ceases to act, —never 


falters and becomes weary. She loves, by an element or 


law of her nature, just as God does; and can cease to 
love only when she ceases to live. She clothes him and 


feeds him, for which she receives no thanks; she 


bathes his throbbing brow, feverish with criminal inoue 


perance; she returns kindness for unkindness, care for 
forgetfulness; never ceasing, under any circumstances, 


to watch, to pray, and to labor. 


ee affected by what is thus presented to theres 
notice, men concede at once and universally the amia- — 


ene and the attractive character of this high love;— 
a love above philosophy and mere human reason, and _ 


partaking of the nature of God. 
3. ‘Take the case of the wife. Her husband has 


become profane, intemperate, vicious. His kindness is — 


changed to suspicion and hatred. He is the wreck of | 


what he was once; and yet her love, kindled by the 


knowledge of what he has been, and of what he may yet 


be, remains unchanged. If his character is gone, his 


existence remains. If virtue has departed, immortality. 


never dies. She sees his former life in ruins, but still it is 


a living ruin and capable of reanimation. And while 
there is hope, however feeble, she will not cease to call i 


upon him to return. 


It is needless to say, how much we respect and 
honor an affection so exalted, and how constantly and 
strongly it impresses us with a sense of its divine origin. | 
We can see a reason why she should love that which is 
lovely ; ; — but to love that which is unlovely; to separate 


between existence and character, and to attach our affec- 
tions to the mere reality of xe simply because it is 


UNION IN LOVE. 107 


being; and, whatever may be its relations of harmony or 


- of opposition to us or to others, to seek, to pray, and to 
labor for its redemption to purity and to happiness, 


simply because it is susceptible of such redemption, and 
without thought of personal reward ;— this is a love, of 
which reason, in being unable to explain it, can only say, 
it is of God. 

4. Take the case of those individuals who have 
visited, aided, and blessed the enslaved and the prisoner, 
—the Clarksons and Howards of their generation; — 
men who have travelled and labored, in the language of 
Mr. Burke, when speaking of Howard, “not to survey the 
sumptuousness of palaces, or the stateliness of temples ; 
not to make accurate measurements of the remains’ of 
ancient grandeur, nor to form a scale of the curiosity of 
modern art; nor to collect medals or collate manuscripts ; 
—but to dive into the depths of dungeons; to plunge 
into the infection of hospitals; to survey the mansions of 
sorrow and pain; to take the gauge and the dimensions 


of misery, depression, and contempt; to remember the 


forgotten, to attend to the neglected, to visit the forsaken, 
to compare and collate the distresses of all men in all 
countries.”’ 

5. It is such cases, unexplainable on mere prudential 
considerations, which give us a glimpse of the exalted 
and divine nature of that love which flows out to exist- 
ence. He, who has such love, has God, —God is in him ; 
because such love cannot live unless it strikes its root 
and has its source of life in the Infinite. As it casts out 
alike all selfish interests and all fears, nothing but divine 
power in the soul could support it. 

With such views of pure or holy love, it only remains 
to be added here, that it is right and reasonable that we 
should be required ¢o love our enemies. There are no 


108 DIVINE UNION. 


passages of Scripture which have perplexed the unbe- 


lieving world more than those which have relation to 
this subject. ‘But I say unto you,” says the Saviour, 
‘love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good 
to them that hate you, and pray for them which despite- 


fully use you and persecute you.” 


6.. It will be noticed, that we are not commanded to — 


love their enmity,—to love their detractions and ill 


usage, — but to love that which has enmity ; the subject” 
rather than the attribute; namely, their existence, their — 
immortal natures. In the exercise of holy love, we may _ 
not only forgive them, but may earnestly seek their hap- 
piness; while, at the same time, we condemn their ~ 
characters. ‘Their characters may change, but not the — 
essence of their being. Their enmity may die, but their — 


nature is eternal. 


7. We repeat, however, that this love cannot be ex- 
ercised in its full extent, unless the soul has first passed 


into divine unity and become a partaker of the divine 


nature. It was this love, resting upon the principle of 
faith, which constituted Christ the true Son of God. 


And it is this love, resting upon the same principle of 


faith, which constitutes the sons of God in all times and 
all places. ‘‘Love your enemies,” says the Saviour. — 
And what is the reason which he assigns? ‘That ye _ 
may be the children of your Father which is in heaven, 
for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the 
good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. 
For if ye love them which love you, what reward have 
ye? Do not even the publicans the same? Andif ye 
salute your brethren only, what do ye more thanothers? 


Do not even the publicans so? Be ye, therefore, per fect, 
even as your Father, which is in heaven, is perfect.” 


CHAPTER IV. 


THOUGHTS ON THE CREATION OF HOLY EXISTENCES. 


All holy beings formed in the divine image. — The divine image in 


man constituted chiefly by holy love. — Such love necessarily the 
gift of God. — On loving God with the whole heart. — Remarks. 
y 


Wuart has been said is perhaps all that is necessary to ~ 
be said in relation to the nature of love, and the exist- 
ence of love as a central element of the Divine Mind. 
Man must be born again into the possession of this love, 
and thus be restored to, and redssociated with, the divine 
element. And we shall the better understand the neces- 
sity of this regeneration and reiinion, by considering 
still further what man was in the beginning. And our 
first remark is this. 

All holy beings, inasmuch as they come from God, 
are, and must be, formed originally in the divine wmage. 


'\ It is thus that angels and all angelic and seraphic natures 


are formed. They are miniatures of God. It is thus 
that man himself was originally formed. And God 
said, ‘‘ Let us make man in our image, after our like- 
ness. So God created man in his own image. Jn the 
wmage of G'od created he him.” 

2. The likeness of God to man is not in form, for God 
is without form;—not in intellect, for the intellect of 
God embraces all things, while man can know only a 
part; —but in that which constitutes, more than any- 
thing else, the element, the life, of the divine .nature, 


10 


110 | DIVINE UNION. 


namely, Hoty Love. Man, in the infancy of his exist- 
ence, was created a love being. Love, as the centre of 
his existence, was not a speculation, but.a nature; not 
an accessory of life, but the life self. Spontaneous in 
its action, acting because it had a principle of movement 
in itself, it did not wait for the slow deductions of © 

reason, but flowed out in all directions, like a living ~ 
stream. As man, thus formed in the love spirit, looked 
around upon the works of nature, he saw all things in 
the possession of life and beauty, and he rejoiced in all 
things, because all things had God in them. He loved 
the tree andthe flower, which reflected the divine wis- 


dom and goodness. But far more did he delight in the — 


happiness of everything which had a sentient existence. 
He called all animals to him. ‘The birds dropped their — 
wings at the sound of his voice, and came. 'The beasts 
of the field and of the forests flocked around him from 
their near or distant habitations. He loved them; and 
he gave them their names. When the occasion was 
presented, when the sentient object, no matter to what 
scale or degree of sentient being it belonged, was before 
him, his simple and pure heart flowed out at once. 

3. It was thus, beyond all question, that the prim- 
itive man was constituted. Such is the representation ~ 
of Scripture. Love, resting upon faith, was his nature. 
And, coming from God, he could not have been consti- 
tuted otherwise. God being what he is, he could not 
have created man otherwise than he did. ‘The princi- 
ples of right, which apply to the fact of creation as well 
as to the government of things created, are not suscep- 
tible of change. It is impossible, therefore, to conceive 
of more than one pattern or model, according to which 
holy beings were at first created. And this one pattern, 
which, in being the true pattern, condemns and excludes 


UNION IN LOVE. lil 


all others, is that of the Divine Mind itself. The model, 
in being perfect, can never be altered ; in being eternal, 
ean never be broken. 

Holy beings.are created after the divine model; but it 
is worthy of notice, here as elsewhere, that the existence, 
which stands for the model, is itself the creating power. 

God is their Father. Man, in not being able to make 
himself, is not able to make that holy love, which is the 
centre of himself. On the contrary, holy love is a gift, 
as divine in its source as it is divine in its nature. It is 
just as impossible for men to originate, by their own 
action, the principle of pure or holy love within them, 
as it is to originate their own existence, or the power of 
perception and memory. Pure love cannot be created. 
on the basis of prudential calculations; nor can it be 
originated by any other human device. Device, calcu- 
lation, cannot raise itself to that divine height. And 
the reason is, it is a constituent, something inherent and 
organic, something without which reason itself, in its 
pure and unbiased forms, could not have been brought 
into action; something which does not and cannot by 
any possibility exist, except as a nature. In God it is 
nature eternal; in all other holy beings it is nature 
given. 

4. Original truth is aphoristic. Its declaration is its 

argument. It carries conviction in its simplest affirma- 
tions. It is enough, therefore, merely to affirm, that the 
created must flow out of the uncreated; that the tem- 
‘poral must flow out of the eternal. God is the uncre- 
ated; God is the eternal. God, therefore, God alone, 
God beyond time, beyond and above all creating power, 
is the “living” or perpetual fountain. He has the true 
life in himself, and that life is Love. — All other life is 
from him and by him. 


112 DIVINE UNION.: 


5. Hence it is said, in the language of Scripture, —lan- 
guage not more simply eloquent and affecting than it is | 
true :—- “‘ My people have committed two evils; they have 
forsaken mE, the fountain of living waters, and hewn out 
broken cisterns that can hold no water.”* And it is 
here, more than anywhere else, that we find the source 
of trouble with men. God, in creating men, not only 
gave them the principle of faith, but opened also the 
eternal fountain of love in their hearts ; but men, in an evil 
hour, stopped it by ceasing to believe in the source from 
which it came. Satan, reminding them that God had © 
made them moral agents, maliciously whispered that. 
they would do well to avail themselves of their power 
by hewing out cisterns of their own, —in other words, 
that they should try to live as originators, and not as 
recipients ; that they should try to live without living in 
and from God. ‘They made the attempt; turned away 
from God, and, in striving to live in their own strength, 
found, in their sins and sorrows, that they had ex- 
changed the living fountain for ‘“ broken cisterns, which 
could hold no water.” 

6. ‘The doctrine of man’s creation in the image of God 
involves, as one of its consequences, that, in his true 
and normal state, he loves and must love God with all 
his heart. And the reason is this. The law of love’s 
movement, all other things being equal, is the amount 
of being, or existence in the object beloved. Accordingly, 
it can be said of love, that it notices and rejoices in every- 
thing which exists. It loves each insect that floats in the 
summer’s sun; it delights in the happiness of the birds 
that sing in the branches; it wipes the tears and binds 
up the wounds of man, however degraded and fallen; 
but it is G'od, the infinite Being, who represents in him- 


* ero: (13. 


UNION IN LOVE. 113 


self all other existences, that supremely attracts and 


absorbs it. In him all love centres, as all streams and 


waters centre in the parent ocean. In God, uniting and 

consolidating all things in himself, we love the infin- 

itude of being, the Life of the universe, the every where 

present, the silent but universal Operator, the All-in-all. 
10* 


CHAPTER ¥\: 


ON THE THREE FORMS OF LOVE: NAMELY, OF BENEVOLENCE). 
OF COMPLACENCY, AND OF UNION. 


Explanations of the love of benevolence.— Benevolential love not 
necessarily unitive. — Illustrations. — Complacential love. — Illus- 
trations — Unitive love. — Results of unitive love. 


Tue love of existence, simply because it is existence 
and in being existence, is susceptible of happiness, is the 
basis of all other love. 'This love is sometimes denomi- 
nated in writers, in consideration of its nature rather 
than its object, the love of benevolence, or benevolential 
love. Eternal in the divine mind, operating by its own 
nature, being in itself and of itself a living principle, it is 
properly called a tire. And it is this immortal life, this 
central and eternal impulse of the divinity, which 
elevates and expands the Godhead from a mere infinity 
of power and wisdom to an infinity of moral perfection. 
Of the value of this love, and its indispensable nature to 
God and to all beings created in the likeness of God, it is 
difficult to form too high an estimate. First in time, it is 
preeminent in importance. We say everything which 
can well be said, when we speak of it as their LIFE. 

2. It is worthy of notice, however, that this love, 
which is sometimes known under the denomination of 
love of benevolence or benevolential love, in distinction 
from the love of complacency or complacential love, és 


UNION IN’ LOVE. 115 


not unitive. ‘That is to say, it does not, and cannot of 
itself, constitute an union between him who loves and the 
object that is beloved. It is hardly necessary to say, 
that there can be no union unless there are two or more 
beings to be united. And it is hardly less obvious, that 
no union can be effected without a correspondence of 
feeling in those who are the subjects of such union. 
Love and union, therefore, are not identical, and are not, 
in all cases, necessarily related. The history of the 
Saviour, who suffered death in attempting to do good to 
men, has shown us that we may love where there is 
only distrust or hatred in return. Often is this the case. 
Year after year, man may entertain the kindest and 
most benevolent feelings towards others; he may labor 
for them and suffer for them ; and instead of the delight- 
ful approach and unity of love, find nothing but feelings 
of ingratitude and deep aversion. 

3. Complacential love, based upon that of benevo- 
lence, or the love of simple existence, adds to the love of 
the object an approbation of its character. 'This last 
circumstance constitutes, it is obvious, an important 
modification of the affection under consideration. We 
desire, for instance, the good and happiness of the just 
man. ‘That is to say, we love him. And we do so, 
both because he is a man, and also because he is just. 
The-love of him asa just man, which turns upon. the 
fact of his character, is added to and increases our love 
of him as a man, which turns upon the fact of his being, 
or existence. Again, we desire the good and happiness 
of angels, on the ground of their existence and suscepti- 
bility of happiness, just as we desire the happiness of the 
worst sinners for the same reason. In other words, we 
love them with the love of benevolence. But-the purity 
of an angel’s character, furnishes a new element, or 


116 DIVINE UNION. 


rather basis of love ;—so that we heighten the love of 
their existence, which is the foundation, by that of their 
moral excellence, which may be regarded as an acces- 
sory, but beautiful superstructure. In the case of 
angels, as in the case of the just man, we love both ex- 
istence and character. In the case of those sinners in 
whom we discover no good moral elements, we love their 
existence, notwithstanding their character, and in oppo- 
sition to its repelling influence. And in both cases, if 
‘our love exists without regard to personal reward, it is 
properly denominated pure love. 

4. Unitive love, in implying the fact of something 
united, cannot exist without two or more persons, or 
beings, who are the subjects of it. Such love, especially 
when it results in the highest degree of union, implies 
and involves the existence of complacential love, added 
to that of benevolence. The parties who are the subjects 
of unitive love, must approve and honor, as well as love, 
each other, before they can enterinto such union. ‘Their 
approbation must be mutual; and mutual approbation 
can hardly be expected to exist without a similarity of 
character. A likeness of character is not essential to all 
love, but it obviously is to that proximity and oneness 
of heart which constitutes the modification of unitive 
love. And the degree of mutual likeness of character 
will be the measure of the degree of union or oneness. 
If the union is perfect, the character in both cases must 
have a moral or religious perfection; —that is to say, 
the character in both cases must be that of pure or holy 
love. Love and selfishness cannot mingle together. 
Whenever two or more existences, filled with the spirit 
of pure love, approach each other, so as to come within 
the sphere of each other’s knowledge, and thus form a 
mutual acquaintance, they not only have feelings of 


UNTON’IN “LOVE. iv 


complacency and approval, but at once form the most 
intimate association. It is not so much a matter of 
volition as a law of nature. ‘They cannot stay apart if 
they would. By their nature they are reciprocally 
attractive. They are born into the same image; and in 
the innate consciousness of the loveliness of their indi- 
vidual characters, they cannot help loving that which 
bears the image and reflects the resemblance of them- 
selves. Children of the same lineage, and baptized in 
the same pure waters, they rush into each other’s em- 
brace, as a mother, recognizing her own lineaments in a 
child long lost, but at last restored again, rushes into its 
arms, not by the movement of mere reason, but by the 
spontaneity of a true and permanent life. 

5. ‘These views apply to the relations between God 
and man, as well as to those between man and his fellow- 
man. When the soul, divested of selfishness, is born 
into the state of pure love, it is then regenerated into the 
image of God. The two existences, the human and the 
divine, are alike, with the exception that one is created, 
the other uncreated; one is the copy, the other the 
original. In connection with a mutual likeness of 
nature, there cannot fail to be a mutual tendency to 
union. So that God, and the child of God, are drawn 
towards each other, and are united and absorbed, as it 
were, the less in the greater, not only by the law of 
filiation, but by the law of attraction involved in the fact 
of mutual resemblance. 

. 6. There is nothing arbitrary or accidental in God’s 
moral kingdom ; nothing which violates responsibility 
and truth. Everything, in being established in the truth, 
is established in the wisdom of permanent law or nature ; 
and nothing exists or is done by unreasonable ‘will or by 
unmeaning chance. ‘The love of union, which draws 


118 DIVINE UNION. 


together and makes kindred spirits into one, has its 
nature. It loves existences, because it desires to make 
them good; it both loves them and unites with them 
when they are made good. It has its nature; it has its 
triumphs also. It is triumphant, both because it con- 
quers by the might of its attractive power, and also 
because it is happy. 'The union of souls, under the 
circumstances which have been mentioned, cannot fail — 
to constitute the highest happiness. 'They do not love — 
in order to be happy; but they are happy because they 
love. The union of holy souls in love is the nuptials of — 
the spirit. ‘Their happiness is as bright and as pure as ~ 
the love from which it flows. Extracted from the 
exhaustless mine which constitutes God’s happiness, it 
is indeed the pearl of great price; the gem which illus- — 
trates the walls of the New Jerusalem. | 

7. Thus among holy beings there is one great circle 
of relationship. Love alone, in its mighty power, works 
out the problem of universal harmony. The fact of 
holiness, which is but another name for pure or holy 
love, constitutes a bond of union; reaching all, encir- 


cling all, beautifying all. 'Those in the same rank of 


being are attracted to each other; and all are attracted — 


to that which is higher in rank; not only loving, but 


united in love; and united each in his place and order, 
on the combined principle of extent of being and perfec- 


tion of character. So that the result is— God in all, 


and all in God; the Father in Christ, and Christ in ~ 
those who are begotten of him ; mutually bound together 
and living in each other; no more separated in fact, and 


no more capable of ining separated from each other than — | 


the rays of the light are separated or capable of ta 
separated from the natural sun. 


CHAPTER VI. 


ON THE UNION OF GOD AND MAN IN LOVE. 


Necessity of union in love. — The love of God and man in union must 
have the same origin. — Must also have a likeness of nature. — 
Must be subjected to a divine regulation. — Illustrations. — Re- 
marks. 


THE union of God and man, on which is founded the 
realization of all excellence and virtue, necessarily in- 
volves the fact of union in love. It is very true that com- 
plete or perfect unity between God and man implies union 
in other respects. Allthat has been previously said goes 
to show that this is the case. There may be, for instance, 
in addition to the union of love, an union of knowledge or 
wisdom, which, in the order of nature, precedes that of 
love. Or there may be an union of the human and divine 
will, which, in the order of nature, follows that of love. 
There not only may be such unions in a perfectly 
restored state of the human mind, but there must be. 
But of all the various forms of union which exist, or 
may be supposed to exist, there is none so important and 
indispensable as that of love. Even that of faith is sub- 
ordinate toit. For, although the union of faith is neces- 
sarily antecedent, and is indispensable, it would be of 
no avail without the higher and more central union of 
love, which follows it. 1 

Some references were made to the union of God and 
man in love in the preceding chapter. But we propose 


120 DIVINE UNION. 


to resume the subject here, and make some further © 
® : 


remarks. i 


The union of God and man in love implies a number 


of things. It implies, in the first place, that the love 


which thus unites them shall have the same origin. 


The two streams must flow from the same fountain. — 1 


God’s love is in and from himself. Man’s love, in order 


to be in harmony with it, must be in and from God also. — 


It is impossible that the pure or perfect love which 
“loves God with all the heart, and our neighbor as our- 


selves,’ should rest on any other than a divine and a 


infinite basis. It is of a nature so high, flowing out 
oy 


freely and cheerfully even to those “who hate us and — 
despitefully use us,” that it requires and can accept 
nothing less than God for its author and supporter. — 


This sentiment we have already expressed; but it is so 
important that it will bear repetition. Man has not 
strength enough to sustain himself in the exercise of 
pure love, breathing out, as it does, its aspirations of 
benevolence towards its enemies, except so far as he 
rests upon God, and becomes a ‘ partaker of the divine 
nature.”’ 


2. The union of God and man in love implies, in the | 


second place, that man’s love must not only be from 


God so as to be nothing more or less than a stream from 


the everlasting fountain, but it must flow out without 
adulteration or modification —in other words, it must 
be like G'od’s love. 

If we analyze these subjects carefully, especially i 


the light of a holy experience, we shall find that God’s pi 


love, as it existed in the primitive and uncreated form, — ! 
-and before any beings were created by him, was, and _ 


must have been, of that kind which is termed benevo- 


‘ential, And this love, as it exists in him now, which 


UNION IN LOVE. 121 


consists in a sincere desire for the happiness of all beings, 
simply because they have a being or existence suscepti- 
ble of happiness, is now, and always will be, the orig- 
inal and basis of all other true love. It was this love, 
which, in the bosom of eternity, prompted the plan of 
salvation. We cannot experience the blessed state of 
perfect union with God in love, unless our hearts are 
filled with a love of this kind. Our love must not only 
have its origin in the divine nature, in God himself, but 
must be like his. So that it should be our constant 
prayer, that God would give us a love-nature, which, m 
being kindled from the eternal fire, will burn of itself; 
which will send out its divine blaze in the midst of per- 
secutions ; and which ‘‘ many waters cannot quench.” 

3. Again, the union of God and man in love implies 
that man’s love, in its particular directions, namely, as 
it flows out to his fellow-men in general, or to particular 
classes of persons, or to any created objects whatever, 
must be subjected to a divine regulation. In other 
words, it is to be regarded as a fundamental principle in 
the life of God in the soul, and in the doctrines of divine 
union, that God must not only give us the power to 
love, but that he must tell us whom to love. We have 
no more right to say whom we shall love out of God, 
than we have to do anything else out of God. In our 
character of dependent creatures, who have nothing of 


‘our own, and who do not know how to use even that 


which is given us, we have no other resource but to 
trust God equally for the gift and for the regulation 


of it. And this is particularly true as respects the affec- 


tion which we are now considering. Love is not only 

the highest, the most ennobling, and the most sacred 

principle of our nature, but it is the most powerful. All 

history, religious as well as profane, is a testimony to 
11 


122 DIVINE UNION. 


the immensity of its power. Whether for good or for 
evil, it is the true life of the soul; making it satanic bye" 
its alliance with Satan, or divine by its participation in 
God. Such a principle, which carries with it immortal 
destinies, should enfold God in it, not only as the source 
of its life, but as the guide of its movements. 

4. Undoubtedly it is the nature, or perhaps we should 
rather say, the natural ¢endency, of holy love, in its 
benevolential form, to extend itself in every direction, 
and to all beings. All that is wanting is an occasion for 
its operation, and such is its nature that it will operate 
of itself. But a distinction may easily be made between 
a tendency of the mind and a direction of that tendency. 
It is the tendency of all rivers to flow to the ocean, but 
they do not flow there in a straight line; on the contrary, 
they are continually diversified in accordance with the 
laws of nature. ‘The rule, applicable in this case to a 
holy mind, is, that we must leave this tendency under 
the direction of Providence, and not direct it in our own 
will. It is true we cannot rightfully be deprived of our. 
own choice; but we are bound to make a right choice, 
and our choice ought always to be, to let the movements 
of our hearts be guided by God’s choice. The will of 
the creature is as disastrous here as anywhere else. Let 


our love, then, flow where Providence indicates that it 


ought to flow. God, who reveals himself in his provi-. 
dences, and acts through them, and God only, should 
choose for us. 

5. But supposing that the Providence of God places 
before us, as the objects of our love, those who. are 
exceedingly depraved and vicious, are we bound. to 
love them in that case? Most certainly we are. They 
are appropriate objects of the love of benevolence; al- 
though they are not so of complacential love or of unitive 


UNION IN LOVE. , 123 


love. And benevolential love, which loves existences 


- simply because they have an existence, is the primitive 


form of love, and the basis of all other forms. This is 
the first or original form of love in God and in all holy 
beings. 

As the appropriate object of this form of love is exist- 
ence in distinction from character, it will naturally 
direct itself, in an especial manner, towards those whom 
Providence has particularly associated with us, no mat- 
ter what their characters may be. The mere fact of 
sentient existence, presented before us as an object of 
contemplation, will stir up the waters at the heart’s 
fountain; but the relations of Providence will indicate 
the channels in which they must flow. Our relatives 
and others, with whom we are particularly associated 
in providence, may be very wicked. But the fact of 
their wickedness does not destroy the other and everlast- 
ing fact, that they are accountable existences; that they 
have immortal souls; that they are capable of great 
happiness or great misery. Fallen, degraded, misera- 
ble, they may be; but if we are like God, how can we 
help loving them? God is a fountain of love, flowing 
out continually towards all his creatures, sparing not 
even his own Son to save and bless them, and showing, 
more than in any other way, his love to those who are 
his enemies. 

6. We may withhold from the wicked, esteem, respect, 
eratitude, honor; we may require of them penitence ; 
we may be willing to see them sufler so far as justice 
requires them to suffer; but we should never withhold 
love. We never can withhold it without crime. And if we 
must love the wicked, who are placed before us in provi- 
dence, certainly we must love the good. - But in neither 
case are we allowed to love, as to persons or degree, 


124 DIVINE UNION. 


otherwise than God directs. The limitation of our 
capacity and position implies, although the tendency of 
the love of benevolence is to love all alike, that we can- 
not love all alike in fact. Anda proper sense of that 
limitation will lead us to prefer that God should make 
the selection rather than that we should make it our- 
selves. Providence, to those who have perfect faith, is 
an infallible guide. 

7. Look, then, constantly to God, here as elsewhere. 
Recognizing the great fact, that thou hast no fountain in 
thyself, let thy heart be fed from God’s heart. The 
same in source, let thy love be the same in character; a 


love that loves without looking for reward. And then, — 


placed entirely under God’s direction, let the stream of 
love flow out and flow on. Under such conditions, it 
is certain, that God’s and man’s affections cannot be 
discordant. And it is insuch a state of things that God 
and man may be said fo be united in love. 


CrAP TER VEL 


OF THE MANIFESTATIONS OF LOVE IN THE FORM OF SYMPATHY. 


Explanations of the term. — Illustrations of the subject. — Sympathy 
in connection with the business of the world.— Sympathy with 
beginners in religion. — Holy sympathy discriminating.— Power of 
this principle. 


Ir is especially characteristic of the man who is united 
with God in love, that he is sympathetic. The term 
syMPATHY, which, in its origin, is derived from the Greek 
language, expresses literally and strictly, harmony, or 
union of feeling. There must, therefore, be two or 
more persons, who are the subjects of this united or 
common feeling. ‘There must, also, be some common 
object, in reference to which this united feeling is exer- 
cised. Accordingly, the sympathetic man is one who 
harmonizes in feeling, on the appropriate occasions of 
sympathy, with the feelings and situation of those 
around him. 

2. The basis of sympathy is Jove. Love is the essence, 
of which sympathy is oneof the modifications or forms. 
It is the nature of pure or holy love, not only to seek 
the good of others, but, harmonizing with the peculiari- 
ties of their situation, to rejoice in their joys, and to 
grieve in their sorrows. If we truly love others, it will 
be a necessary result that we shall take an interest in 

11* 


126 DIVINE UNION. 


everything which concerns them. Love, taking this 


form, is sympathy. 


3. We will endeavor to give some illustrations of this — 
interesting state of mind. A truly pious person, one in — 


whom the principle of holy love predominates, is a mem- 
ber of a family. It does not make any difference, in 
relation to the subject under consideration, whether he 
is a member by the ties of relationship, or a member by 
mere residence. One of the members of the family is 
severely afflicted with sickness. 'The occurrence of this 


affliction furnishes the occasion on which the principle 


of holy love, moved by its own law of action, assumes 


the form of sympathy. The person who is the resi- — : 


dent of the family, being such as we have described him 


to be, cannot witness such an affliction without “ weep- 
ing with him who weeps.” His sympathy, in the exist- 
ing state of his mind, is a sort of necessity to him. It is 
possible that it may not present the same aspect with 


the sympathy of unsanctified nature, which is often 
agitated by fear, and perverted by selfishness. But, 


always necessary and certain in its existence, it will be 
of that tender, judicious, and permanent character, which 
will be the most useful, besides being the most heavenly. 

A. We will suppose, again, not that the persons around 
us are sick, but that they have been deprived of the 
means of knowledge, and are exceedingly ignorant. 
They are excluded from science and literature, even in 


their simplest forms. ‘The Bible, with its precious con-— 


solations, is a sealed book to them. It is impossible that 


they should experience such deprivations without being 


afflicted; and it is impossible that holy persons, filled — 
with the love of God and man, should be acquainted 
with their situation, without sympathy. ‘That is to say, r 
under the impulse of love, they suffer with those afflicted 


UNION IN LOVE. 127 


ones at the same time that they desire to relieve their 
sufferings; the term sympathy, expressing, in this case, 


' the combined feeling of sorrow for their want, and oe 


benevolent desire for its alleviation. 

5. The principle of sympathy, as it exists in a holy 
mind, is not limited in its exercise to occasions furnished 
by men’s physical sufferings, or by their spiritual wants. 
In things which are not directly of a religious character, 
but have certain prudential relations and issues, and are 
thought, by the men of the world, to be important to 
them, we are at liberty to harmonize in feeling and 
action, so far as can be done consistently with the claims 
of religion. ‘This results, in part, from the peculiarities 
of our position. While a renovated heart, on the one 


hand, allies us with angels, a weak and dying body, on 


the other, allies us with the toils and wants of human- 
ity. And we still have a bond of union in many things 
connected with our position, however different we may 
be in character. So that there may be occasions on 
which the most devoted Christian may as truly sympa- 
thize with his neighbors in building a bridge or a road, 

in establishing manufactories, in perfecting useful inven- 


tions, or in some other work connected with the ordi- 


nary wants of men, as in building a church. It js a 


mistake to suppose that religion dissociates us from 


humanity in anything which is lawful. 
6. ‘The principle of holy sympathy is very important, 


considered as constituting a medium of communication 
and a bond of union between hearts which have experi- 
enced the highest degrees of love, and those which are 
only partly sanctified. In a haby heart, to a consider- 
able extent at least, faith takes the place of desire; and 


consequently, as a general thing, praise, will. predoit: 
inate over supplication. A holy héatds isa heart jubilant ; 


{28 DIVINE UNION. 


a heart ‘always rejoicing.” But when the holy person 


comes into the company of those who are in a lower — 


degree of experience, — who have much darkness min- — 
gled with their light, and much sorrow mingled with — 
their joy, —the principle of holy sympathy alters his 


position, and leads him to unite his supplications with 
theirs. He goes down from “the mount of transfigura-~ 


tion”? into the deep and dark valley; and, under the 
impulse of love, which is now changed into sympathy, » ie 


he seeks, with wrestling and tears, to deliver his breth- 


ren. 


7. Holy sympathy, in distinction from mere natural 
sympathy, is discriminating. 'That is to say, it isa 


restricted and modified, so far as it relates to man, byt 


the operation of the still higher form of the same princi- — 
ple, which may be described as sympathy with God. 


Holy sympathy, in being the offspring of holy love, is 
not like that weak sympathy generated from the natural 


heart, which modifies kindness by selfishness, and seeks _ 
a momentary relief of the sufferer rather than the ulti-— 


mate and greatest good. Having its origin in the Divine — 


Nature, it is always, in its operations and results, sub- | 
jected to the providence and will of God. And, accord- 
ingly, it sometimes exists where it does not find itself at 


liberty to relieve the suffering for which it feels. It is 


not in the nature of holy sympathy, however intense ite 
may be, to do anything which is wrong. And, accord- 


ingly, the person whose heart harmonizes with God, 


never undertakes to relieve that suffering which God, ine 


his providence, evidently imposes for the good of him 


who is afflicted. His sympathy with God’s ultimate . 
designs regulates the tendencies of his sympathy for the 


sufferer. . 


8. And thus regulated, the principle of sympathy, — 


| 


UNION IN LOVE. 129 


| Springing as it does from holy love, is one of the most 
“important and effective elements of a holy life. It links 


the divine with the human, the upright with the fallen, 


the angel with the man. It has been the moving 
impulse, the life, of good men in all ages of the world. 
It detached Moses from the court of Egypt, that it might 


unite him with the sufferers of the desert; it poured its 
energies into the heart of Paul, and carried him from 
nation to nation; in modern times, it has carried devoted 
missionaries into all parts of the world; it moves the 
_ hearts of angels, of whom it is said, ‘ ere) is joy among 


the angels in heaven over one sinner that repenteth.” 


_ It achieved its mightiest triumph when the Saviour of 


_ the world, clothing himself in human form, chose to be 


smitten and die upon the cross rather than separate him- 
self from the interests of fallen humanity. 


CHAPTER VIII. 


ON THE RELIGION OF LOVE AS COMPARED WITH THE RELIGION | 
OF OBLIGATION. a . 

‘De, 

Two principles of action.— Illustrations of these principles. —Rela. 
tions of love and obligation. — The holy man acts from the principle | 
of love.— He is approved by conscience without feeling the com. heh 
pulsions of conscience. a on 


Tue view which has been given of love, as the great 
central element in religious experience, would be impel 4 
fect without presenting the matter in one other aspect, — 
namely, the religion of love as compared with the religion — 4 
of obligation. we 

There are two important principles in the human con- 
stitution, which are very different from each other in 
their nature; but which, operating in different ways, 
often harmonize in the production of the same results. — 
The one is the great principle of love, which we have — 
been endeavoring to illustrate; the other is the feeling 
of moral obligation. Cases of human conduct, illustra- 
tive of the operation of these two principles, are very 
frequent. sy 

A man, for instance, visits and relieves one who is 
sick. ‘lhe action, which is so interesting and important, in 
may be ascribed either to the principle of love, or the — 
sentiment of duty. The father of a family restrains — 
those under his care from outward labors on the Sabbath. 
day, and visits the house of God with them; and, in 


UNION IN LOVE. 13] 


| | -dbitie so, he may be moved by love to God, or merely by 
i the constraint of mental. conviction and obligation. A 
| child may render obedience to his parents from either of 
| these motives; either because he loves to obey, — it being 
'a pleasure, a delight to him to obey, — or because, with- 
out love, and sometimes against love, he feels it to be his 
duty to obey. And thus of many other instances. 
_ 2. Itis important to ascertain the true position and 
the comparative relations of these principles. In the 
order of nature, love is the first in time. The heart 
naturally operates before the conscience. One evidence 
of this is, that it is the office of the conscience to intimate 
‘the proper regulations, and to establish the law of the 
‘heart. It is obvious, however, that there can be no 
“regulation without something which is regulated ; and 
conscience, whose business it is to regulate and ene 
would suru be a faculty without application aid 
without use, if there were not propensities and affections 
which in the order of nature operated antecedently. 
| Love is the true impulsive principle, the central move- 
ment or life of man, as it is of God and of all holy 
beings. Of conscience, it can only be said that it is its 
guard, the flaming sword which waves and flashes 
round it to protect its purity. And he who does not act 
in the right way naturally, and by the power of his own 
‘|loving life, must be wounded and goaded into the 
I right by the authority and the penalties of the moral 
"| sense. 
3. Does the truly holy man, the man who has his 
| life in God, act from love or from conscience? The 
_ statements which have already been made, indicate the 
answer. ‘The holy man acts from holy love, — that is to 
say, from such love as conscience approves. ‘The holy 
man does not act‘from mere will, against the desires of 


132 DIVINE UNION. 


his sensitive or affectional nature, on the ground, and for | 


the reason, that his conscience requires him to do so; but, 
on the contrary, acts under the impulse of holy afl: ve 


ing affections, — affections which are the regenerated cift 
of God, and which sweetly carry the will with it. He 


acts, not so much from conscience, as with conscience. 


He acts from that, in himself, which makes him a par. 
taker of the ea nature, namely, holy love, with con-— 
science standing by, as it were, with its approbation and 


encouragement. 


4, And this leads us to the explanation of one of the 
peculiarities of the higher states of religious experience, — 
It is this. The more holy a man is, the less he feels of — 
the compulsive power of conscience. When the heart, 
or rather the principle of love in the heart, (the love- 
nature, if we may so express it,) is adequate to the object 
of effecting or carrying out good purposes, conscience is _ 
not known or felt in the matter, except in that sweet, 
approving calm of the spirit, which is the result of 
inward adjustment and harmony. 'This is so much the 
case, that sometimes persons, who have been fully 
reéndowed by the Holy Ghost with a new love-nature, — 
have almost had a fear that they had lost’ their con- 
science. But it should be remembered that conscience — 
has two forms or modes of action ; that which constrains - 
or compels to do right, and that which approves when 
right is done. And while it is true that holy persons are 
not constrained or compelled by conscience, acting as 
they obviously do, by the impulses of a holy life or 
nature, without Sarinalcion, it is equally true that they | 
are approved by conscience. 'The holy joy within them, | 
the calm, triumphant peace which they experience, the 


peace of God, the peace of angels, are both the evidence 
and the result of this approval. 


UNION IN LOVE. 133 


 §. It is a saying of St. Augustine — “ Love, and do 
“what you please.” In acting from the impulse of love, 
_ we are conscious of the highest freedom. But pure love, 
or right love, (that to which St. Augustine refers,) is, 
: by the very terms used, a love which is conformed to 
law. It isa love which is pure from selfishness, a love 
which is right; a love which does not, and cannot, 
while it remains pure, vary from the law of moral recti- 
tude. He, who acts from such love, while he is con- 
scious of the highest freedom, is safe in doing what he 
pleases, not only because his pleasure consists in benev- 
olent feeling and action, but because his pleasure is 
, always conformed to what is right. He is under law 
_ without feeling its pressure ; because the pressure of law, 
or that which makes it felt as a compulsive and con- 
_ straining power, never is and never can be felt, while the 
subject of it entirely harmonizes in feeling as well as in 
_ action with its requisitions. The man who, in perfect 
health, breathes the pure air of heaven, breathes freely ; 
_ but he does it in subjection to the laws of respiration, 
and yet without feeling any constraint, and perhaps 
without knowing that there are such laws. The man 
_who walks the earth, in the perfect exercise of his mus- 
| cles, is conscious of freedom, and of acting his own 
pleasure, while, at the same time, every movement is in 
subjection to the law of gravitation, and cannot be made 
without it. Indeed, it is the physical law in these cases, 
harmonizing with the purpose of the personal volition, 
‘which sustains both breathing and movement. And so 
it is the eternal law of right, indicating the channels in 
which it should flow, but without using compulsion, 
_ when compulsion is not needed, which sustains pure or 
_holy love in a state of purity. | 

| 6. Angels have a conscience. They do always what 
' 12 


Ga esa DIVINE UNION. 


is right, and never otherwise than what is right. 
they do not do it under the compulsions of conscience, va at 
from the excellent and just impulses of a purified an 
loving nature. Conscience is a law to them, as it 1 
law to all other holy ois But law, we are told, “is 
made for the lawless.” (1 Tim. 1:9.) Those who are 
not lawless, but whose hearts and actions, of their ow 
-accord, harmonize with the law, are under the law wi 
out feeling the pressure of the law ; rendering obedience to 
the law, almost without shan what the law is. a : 
they should attempt or desire to disobey, they would a 
once have knowledge as distinct as it would be painful. by, 
In other words, the operations of the conscience are an- 
ticipated and lost, as it were, in the antecedent operations | 
of holy love. And these statements, which apply to 
angels and other unfallen beings, will apply essentially 


to men. 


PR as 
1 eo 
i Py 


ys 


CHAPTER IX. 


RECAPITULATION OF SOME OF THE PRINCIPLES WHICH HAVE BEEN 
EXPLAINED IN THE SECOND, THIRD, AND FOURTH PARTS. 


Lr 
Farrn, considered as an element of the Divine mind, is 
a nature, and not an acquisition. In man, also, faith is 
anature. But in God it is nature eternal; in man, it 
is nature given. 
ie 
God, without faith in himself, could not beGod. And 
man, without faith in God as his Father, could not be 
the child of God. When man, therefore, was originally 
created, he was created with faith in God. 


Ii. 
Faith is'the antecedent of knowledge. We cannot 


have knowledge, without having and using the instru- 


ments of knowledge. The instruments of knowledge, 
consisting in the various powers of perception and judg- 


ment which we possess, are God’s workmanship; and 


we cannot have faith in the instruments, without having 
faith in the author of them. And this is a truth of phi- 
losophy, as well as of religion. 


i IV. 
Knowledge, in the ordinary use of the word, has refer- 
ence to those things which are distinctly within the 


136 DIVINE UNION. 


reach of the human mind;— the objects immediately _ 
around us,—the present realities of space and time. — 
Faith, in the religious application of the term, has rela-_ 
tion to those things which are beyond these limits. So 
that, as far as the human mind or any finite mind is — 
concerned, the appropriate object of knowledge is the — 
FINITE, While the appropriate object of faith is the infinite. 


Ve 
God is directly the inspirer and author of faith; and 


indirectly, though not less really, the author of knowl- . 


edge. That is to say, he not only gives and sustains 


the instruments of knowledge, but, acting in concurrence : 3 
with that consent which is appropriate to a moral nature, - a 


he directs them. In both cases, God, and God only, is 


the great and true teacher. 


VI. 
If man was originally created in faith, he could not 


have fallen from his original state, except by ceasing to 


have faith; — in other words, by unbelief. And he can- 
not be restored to the state from which he fell, except by 


the restoration of faith. Provision for this restoration is ( ; 


made in Jesus Christ. And this restoration is actually 
realized in the case of all those, who, in ceasing to have 
faith in themselves, have opened the door of their hearts 
for the faith which is in God. 


VII. 
We cannot love God as our Father, without first 


believing in him as our Father. Faith, therefore, which a 


stands first in order, may be regarded as the intellectual 
condition of sonship. Love, taking a more inward and 
central position, is the emotional, or, more strictly and 
better, the affectional condition of sonship. So that, if 


RECAPITULATION OF PRINCIPLES. 137 


faith stands first in the order of nature, love stands first 


- gn rank. 


VII. 


) Holy love, that love which loves without reward, 


which loves the evil as well as the good, and which 
‘casts out fear,’ can exist oriciNaLLy only in an Infinite 
being. As it loves its enemies, it must be allied with a 


power which can cast out all fear of its enemies; and as 


it thus loves without any regard to the degree or strength 
of enmity, it can find an adequate support only in a 
power which is infinite. Holy love, therefore, considered 


in its source, is in natural and necessary alliance with 


infinite power. Its fountain-head is God. 


TX. 

And, on the other hand, God cannot exist as God 
without holy love as the central principle of his exist- 
ence. It is obvious, that he must have some central and 
permanent principle of life; and if it be not love, it must 
be the opposite of love, which is impossible. Love, 
therefore, is the life of his infinity. 


X. 

As God, considered as a creator, is perfect in his crea- 
tions, it is a necessity to him, (using the term in its moral 
and not its physical sense,) to create beings in the per- 
fectness of hisown image. Accordingly all moral beings 
are created, in the first instance, in the likeness of God’s 
love. 

The same may be said of love as of faith. In God or 


the Infinite Holy it is nature eternal; in the finite holy, 


(including in the expression all created holy beings,) it 
is nature given. 
“ ; XI. wees as 
All holy beings, therefore, are constituted, in the first 


4 


138 DIVINE UNION. 


instance, with a love-nature. And this benevolent and 
loving nature, which is accepted and sustained by their 
own. choice, is derived and nurtured, like streams flow-_ 
ing from their parent lake, from the infinite love-nature. 
And all beings who have fallen from that original state, — 
but who’ are fully regenerated again into the love-spirit, 

have not merely a new position, but a new life——afoun- 
tain springing up within them forever, —in consequence ~ 
of its birth or filiation from that true life of God which 

can never die. | 


no nes eee 


XII. 

And this life (as is always implied in the expressions 
pure or holy love when used in distinction from love 
without any such qualifying epithet) has a law in 
itself; so that it not only brings the subject of it into =| 
action by its power of movement, but its activity, with- 
out needing the compulsions flowing from the moral 
sense, is always approved by the moral sense; and har- 
monizes alike with truth and with rectitude. . 


XIII. 

All beings, which, by being under the influence of 
holy love, may be said to be in the true life, necessarily 
live in harmony with each other, because they live from 
one central power; each being kept in his appropriate 
sphere by a principle of adjustment, which has its origin 
‘in God, but which reaches and regulates all the holy 
creatures of God. 

ALY 

And this being the case, holy beings, in. their respec- 
tive spheres of existence, constitute holy communities or 
societies; being the subjects of a relationship which is sus- 
tained by its constitutive laws, and which is as beauti-_ 
ful as it is permanent; and while they are thus bound 


RECAPITULATION OF PRINCIPLES. 139 


to each other by the golden links of love, they are not 
-less bound to God, who is their Father and their com- 
mon source of life. And, accerdingly, it is said in the 
Epistles of John, ‘‘ Love is of God, and every one that 
loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.” And again, 
in another place, — ‘‘God is Love; and he that dwelleth 
in love, dwelleth in God, and God in him.” 


- 


OH LOVE! THOU DAY-STAR OF THE HEART! 


Oh love! thou day-star of the heart! 
Ascend upon thy throne! 


Victor and lord, where’er thou art, 
To all within the power impart, 
Of life to God alone. 


Such is the magic of thy sway 
Upon the holy mind, 
That sin, all powerless in thy ray, 
Departs, as night-shades flee the day, 
And leaves no cloud behind. 


My soul was dark in other years ; 
The stain was on my brow; 
And something whispers to my fears 
The loss of all but sin and tears, 
If thou shouldst leave me now. 


But fears are gone, and tears are bright, 
Lit with the beams of love: 

There is no sin, nor grief, nor night, 

To him whose inmost soul is light 

With radiance from above. 


PART FIFTH. a 


ON THE WILL OF GOD, AND THE UNION OF THE DIVINE AND 
_ HUMAN WILL. bie | 


os 


¥ 
eX 


CHAPTER If. 


ON THE RELATION OF THE WILL OF GOD TO OTHER PARTS — 
OF THE DIVINE NATURE. aa 


ya 


Definition of the divine will.— On the necessity of an union of the 
human will with the divine. — A given act of the will embodies and — 


represents all antecedent knowledge and affections. — In uniting 
with God’s will, we unite with God in the full extent of his being. 


In considering the wide and important subject of 
Divine Union, we proceed now to another series of top- | 
ics, involving the relations of the human and divine — 
will?) 4" . ae 

So far as we understand the state of union in any — 
given case, we necessarily understand, at least in some " 
important particulars, the nature of the objects which — 
are united together. It is reasonable to suppose that, 
being a part of our own nature, we know what the 
human will is; and in this, as in many other things, we — 
may reason from ourselves to our Maker. And, accord- 
ingly, the idea which men entertain of the will of 
God, considered as a separate attribute of the Divine 
Mind, is derived from that which they have of their 


% 


ee 


UNION IN WILL. 141 


own wills. The will of God analogous to the will of 
-man, but infinitely superior in its applications and ex- 


tent, is that power in God which originates the divine 


_ volitions, purposes, or decisions. 


2. Union with God implies and requires, not only 
union in knowledge and love, but union also, and per- 
haps still more emphatically, with the divine will. And 
the reason of this will be the more clearly seen in pro- 


portion as we more fully understand the relation of the 


will of God to the oe and affectional parts of 
the divine nature. 
In God, in the same manner as in man, the will, or 


_ rather the act of the will, which consolidates and real- 
_ izes the perceptions and affections in oneness of purpose 
and action, constitutes their true unity. It is true that 


God’s knowledge may properly be regarded and con- 
templated as a whole; but extending to a multitude of 
distinct objects, it is equally true that it is fractional 
and in parts, so far as it exists in relation to particular 
cases. And besides, speaking after the manner of men, 
knowledge is to be compared with knowledge, and to be 
appropriately adjusted, in order that purpose and action 
may be based upon the highest or perfect knowledge. 
The divine affections also diversify and multiply them- 
selves upon all the appropriate objects of affection; 

objects which are found everywhere, as far as know!- 
edge itself extends. These affections are perfect in their 


sphere; but, being many in number, they do not repre- 
‘sent, in particular cases, the wholeness or completeness 
of the divine nature. Affection is to be compared with 
affection in order to ascertain their comparative and just 


value. But the will, which never acts in a perfect 
being except on the comparison and adjustment of all 


142 DIVINE UNION. 


knowledge and all affection, centralizes and unites all — 
in one. | rahe vanes 


3. So that the act of the will, in a perfect mind, may 


always be regarded as indicating and representing both i 
the highest knowledge and the highest affection. it 
embraces all which can be comprehended under the _ 
head of knowledge and affection, and still without being 
divided in itself. Being perfect, the divine will or pur- 
pose can never be otherwise than it is; and being the : 
final decision of the mind, and excluding all decisions _ 
and acts against itself, and standing alone in its suprem- ra 


acy, it is necessarily one thing. God can never will 


anything without centralizing, in regard to that partic- 


ular thing, his whole nature ; consolidating, in that one 


act, its multiplicities of thought and feeling into wntdy. — 
So that God’s purpose, developed in the precise time of 


his purpose, is the true representation or expression of 
God himself, existing at the same moment as perfect 


fulness or completeness embodied in perfect simplicity, 


sary. 


4. If we consider the subject on the side of man, we 
see also the greatness of this necessity. Man’s percep- * 
tive powers are limited. ‘They do not correspond, in ~ 
extent, with those of God; and consequently we can ee 
unite with God, in the matter of knowledge, only 
in a limited degree. 'The union with him, in this — 


respect, may be perfect as far as it goes; but it is 
restricted in extent. And it will be found to be the 


same in relation to love. We may harmonize perfectly : 
with the divine love, in all cases where objects of love — 


are presented to us. But the sphere of our knowledge, 
through which objects are presented to us, being lim- 
‘ted, the sphere of our love also is limited. Practically, 


And it is here that union with God is especially neces- a 


UNION IN WILL. 143 


our love cannot, in its extent, be carried beyond the 
+ limit of known objects of love. 

_ But, in the acts of the will, the Godhead, if we may 
be allowed the expression, so simplifies itself, that the 
harmony between the created and the uncreated, the 
human and the divine, may be perfect in extent as well 
as degree. God’s will (we mean here, by the term, the 
act of his will in any given case) is a unity, combining 
together, as it were, and representing the whole of his 
knowledge, the whole of his love, the whole of his 
nature. As all objects may be, and are, present to it in 
a single glance, and compressed as it were into the 
eternal now, a single act of the will, embracing and. 
adjusting all previous knowledge and all previous feel- 
ing, decides upon all, enacts all, establishes allen‘ Tiss 
this act of the will, —an act extending to and consolidat- 
ing everything else, —with which we are required to be 
united. Based upon infinite variety, in ifse/f it is but 
one thing; and we are to unite with it as one. But as 
it is the unity of the Godhead, embracing the infinite 
variety of the Godhead, we cannot unite with God in 
the simplicity and unity of the will, without being virtu- 
ally united with him in the infinite multiplicity of his 
knowledge and affection. 
| 5. If these views are correct, which, in binding us to 
the will of God, bind us to the whole of God, we not 
only see how much is involved in an union with the 
divine will, but how fearfully hazardous it is to indulge 
in the slightest deviation from that will when it is once 
ascertained. No direction is more important than that 
which requires us to labor and pray for harmony with 
God in this respect. The other unions which have been 
mentioned, important and indispensable as they are, 
may be regarded as preparatory to this. The union of 


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‘therefore, that the Saviour so frequently refers tc 
form of union. ‘“ My meat,” he says, “is to do ti 
of him that sent me.”* And again he says, Sy 
COs down. from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the: 
of him that sent me.” “He that doeth the will of God,” 
says the apostle John, ‘abideth forever.” This | if 


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CHAPTER II. 


ON THE PERPETUAL IDENTITY OF THE DIVINE WILL. 


God never discordant with himself, and hence his will always the 
same. — Views of philosophers on this subject not really, but only 

_ apparently, different from the views commonly taken. — Consolations 
of this doctrine. 


TuerE are some aspects of the subject now before us, 
which cannot be fully appreciated without keeping in 
mind the fact of the perpetual identity of the divine 
will. 

God cannot be discordant with himself. 'That iden- 
tity of nature, which is involved in the fact of his 
perfection, is only another name for unchangeable har- 
mony. What now is, harmonizes with what has been ; 
and what shall be harmonizes with what now is. 
The end of God, therefore, if we may be allowed the 
expression, is identical with the beginning ; and every- 
thing which is intermediate corresponds with the begin- 
ning and the end. L dticy 

And this is as true of God’s willas it is of any other part 
of his nature. What God thinks to-day he thought 
always, and what God feels to-day he felt always. He 
knew what was to be before it had a being. He rejoiced 
and had sorrow in its good and evil, before that good and 
evil had an existence. And it is the same of his will. 
What God wills to-day, he willed yesterday ; what he 

13 


146 DIVINE UNION. 


shall will a thousand years hence, he has already willed 
a thousand years ago. 

2. It is a great truth, therefore, —a truth fundamental 
and essential in religion, that the operations or decisions 
of the divine will can never be otherwise than they are. 
The laws which originate them have their basis in the 
eternal mind, and are inflexible in their results. It is 
thus, for this reason.and in this manner, that the divine 
will may be said to be perpetually identical. God can- 
not feel otherwise than he does, nor think otherwise — 
than he does, nor will otherwise than he does. And 
the reason is, because he is G'od ; and, being God, he is — 
not and cannot be anything less or otherwise than God. 

If any other course of thought, feeling, willing, or 
action, were right and proper for him, it would be an | 
obvious implication that his present course is not right, 
is not proper. Imperfection, which shows itself in 
taking a course less right and less proper than another 
course, would, in that case, be stamped upon it and upon 
the author of it. But it is hardly necessary to say that 
God and imperfection are ideas which are incompatible — 
with each other. | 

3. It is true, that the statement of the absolute verity 
on this subject is not precisely the statement.of the truth 
or verity, as it is developed to man’s outward percep- 
tion. ‘The statement of the absolute truth is what phil-— 
osophical writers sometimes denominate supersensuous, 
the statement of the thing as it is; the other statement 
is subordinate and accommodated to the senses, the 
statement of the thing as it appears. The one state- 
ment is the expression of the unchangeable and divine 
view; the other of the human. The one is total, the 
other fragmentary. Nevertheless, there is no incompat- 
ibility in them. They agree with each other, as the 


U NLOWN: No WEL D. 147 


parts, when properly adjusted, agree with the whole. 
The statement, accommodated to man’s limited percep- 
tion, would be simply this. Whatever God wills now, 
although the volition may not have taken effect till the 
present moment, he has virtually willed from ezernity. 
The will, virtual or potential, that is to say, the will in 
its capability of action, the will “in POSSE,’ as it is 
sometimes expressed,—although it may have existed mil- 
lions of centuries before the circumstances, which at last 
surrounded it, developed it in the issues of specific 
action, —is the same, and must be the same, as the will 
in effective exercise, the will “‘1v acru.” Ithad in itself 
from the beginning a law, which involved the result. 
In other words, it is the same thing under a different 
aspect ; in the one case essential but undeveloped, in the 
other essential, but in exercise. 

A, So that, in either case, whether we take the super- 
sensuous view, or the view which is accommodated to the 
imperfect action of the senses, the same great and essen- 
tial truth remains. In other words, the mind and the 
acts of God, including his will and his volitional acts, 
whether seen in their fragmentary form through the suc- 
cessions of time, or in the identicalness of that mode of 
vision which is above the senses and above time, are 
“without variableness, and without shadow of turning.” 
Here, then, is an identity, not more sublime in its nature 
than its continuance, which runs parallel with eternity, 
and is sustained by the same principles which make and 
sustain God himself. 

5. 'The perpetual identity, or, what is the same thing, 
the immutability, of God’s will presents a strong contrast 
with the mutability of the creature’s will, Man’s will, 
(we speak now of the natural man, or the man out of 
God,) is changeable. By separating himself from God, 


148 DIVINE UNION. 


he took his will, which is hardly less than another name 
for himself, out of God’s keeping, and placed it in his — 
own. But man out of God neither knows, nor can 


know, what is true, nor what is good, nor what is right, 


except relatively ita imperfectly. The absolute truth, 


as well as the absolute good and the absolute right, ik 
beyond his reach. His views are not only limited, but 
perverted. As he has cut himself off from the source of 


truth, the truth is not in him, except imperfectly and 

pervertedly ; and he is floating loosely amid a sea of : 
errors, which flows out from the falsity of his own | 
inward position. His will, therefore, unmoored as it is 9 


from the eternal foundations, is fixed to no object, except 


to himself; and as self, or the life of self, has no centre 


but in its own selfishness, it wanders about, attracted — 
by every object which promises to feed its depraved 


appetite, and seeking a rest, which, in the rejection of 
the true rest, it is never destined to find. 
6. Such is the changeableness of man’s will in his 


unsanctified state. How different is all this from the 
true and unchangeable foundations of God ;— and how — 


different the condition of the unholy man, who rests 


upon himself, from that of the man who is united with — 


the infinite! On the strong rock of the perpetual identity 
of the divine will, and not on the uncertain quicksands 


of a will which is liable to change, the holy man rests’ 


his head in peace. No storms terrify him. Knowing, 
as he does, that to God there is no past and no future, 
his soul, combining the past and the future into one, may 


be said to be centred in the eternal present. ‘To Sense, — 


indeed, many things arenew. ‘To Faith, nothing is new. 


To Sense, many things are strange, unprecedented, ter- — 


rifying. ‘There are storms, diseases, wars, the sky in 
commotion, the earth heaving, nations destroyed. But 


UNION IN WILL. 149 


to Faith, whose eye penetrates beneath the surface, 


. there is only what was designed to be; the development 


of a will, which, in being invariably true to mercy, 
wisdom, and justice, never changes from its own settled 
line of action, but is identical in its eternity. ‘These 
present things, which occupy and perplex the senses, 
are the externalities which clothe the inward life. ‘They 
may be described as the ‘veil of the temple,” within 
which there is God without an image, unseen by that 
external eye which can see only the form of things, but 
visible to that eye of Faith, which, beneath all outward 
forms, sees, and knows, and loves the Eternal Essence. 


13* 


CHAPTER III. 


ON THE NATURAL AND MORAL SUPREMACY OF THE DIVINE 
WILL. 


Explanations of the natural supremacy of the divine will. — Explana- 
tions of its moral supremacy.—Results of the views presented. — The 
law of right requires the union of the human with the divine will. 


Turre is a natural supremacy of the divine will. 
There is a moral supremacy also. In natural things, it 
is supreme by nature. In moral things, it is supreme 
by right. . The natural supremacy, which presents itself 
first for consideration, is fixed, and cannot be otherwise 
than itis. It is the supremacy which makes and orig- 
inates ; the infinite energy concentred in the one infinite 
purpose, overspreading all, consummating dll. All 
things which exist, so far as the mere fact of being is 
concerned, have their existence, both in its origin and its 
continuance, in the natural supremacy of God’s will. In. 
that will, all trees and plants, and all other things which 
are produced on the earth’s surface, have their life. In 
that will, the sun, and moon, and stars live; and all» 
things and beings that inhabit them. In that will, all 
men, and all animals inferior to men, in all their vari- 
eties, have their origin and their continued support. It 
is a will supreme, because everything else is a depend- 
ency. 

This, it will be noticed, is said in connection. with the 
physical nature of things. Over all things in their phys- 
ical nature, there is what may be called a natural or 


2 oe 
——— 


UNION IN WILL. 151 
physical supremacy of the divine will, which transcends 
everything because it is the source of everything. 

2. There is also a moral supremacy of the divine will. 
God, in the exercise of the natural supremacy of his will, 
and acting under the direction of his moral nature, cre- 
- ated beings like himself, beings having a moral nature. 
In doing this, he gave them the power to do as they 
pleased; that is to say, to take any course which they 
might choose to take within the sphere of their natural 
or physical capability. But in giving them the power 
thus to act, which was essential to them as moral beings, 
he did not give them the right. He could not do it. 
As a being possessed of all power, he could give them 
the power to do what they pleased; but, as a being 
_ possessed of all holiness, he could give them the right to 
do only what was right, and nothing else. Further 
than this, they never had any right, nor ever can have. 

3. And the consequence is, that all moral beings, 
whether men or angels, as they havea right to do only 
what is right, have no right to dislocate and remove 
themselves from under the divine will. The liberty they 
have of doing as they please undoubtedly gives them 
the power or enables them to do it; but the law of right, 
which prescribes in what manner their capability 1s to 
be exercised, forbids it. If it is not right for them to 
remove from under God’s will, then it is their duty to 
remain under it. As moral beings, they cannot do oth- 
erwise without a violation of morals. God’s will is 
supreme over them physically or naturally, because their 
natural or physical life is wholly dependent upon it. It 
is supreme over them morally, because they cannot 
abdicate its supremacy without doing a wrong. ‘The 
supremacy is secured in the one case by a physical 
necessity; in the other, by a moral necessity. The 


p2e DIVINE UNION. 


physical law subjects them to God as physical men ; the 
moral law subjects them to God as moral men. 

A. Accordingly, if we carry these principles into par- 
ticulars, we shall find that, in no case whatever, can we 
separate ourselves from God rightly. In union alone, 
that union which is appropriate to the relation of supe- 


rior and inferior, is there true life. And here, living, 3 


not by what we have originally, but by what is moment- 
arily given us, if we need strength, the law of morals 
requires us to look for it where we can best obtain it. 
If we need wisdom, we cannot, without a violation of 
duty, seek it where it is not to be had, but must go to 
him, who alone has true wisdom. If we need love, 
which, more than anything else, is the true inspiration 
of the soul, we must go to him, who, in being himself 
LOVE, can supply us from the original fountain. And 
so in every other case. If it be true, as the apostle 
James asserts, that ‘“‘every good gift, and every perfect 
gift, is from above, and cometh down from the Father 
of lights,” then we can have nothing good which does 
not come from him. And, as the law of duty requires 
us to seek good in preference to evil, and as we can find 
the true good in God alone, it is not possible for us, in 
doing what we ought to do, to take any other position 
than that of humble recipients. And in that position, 
bound to submit to a higher guidance if that guidance 
will be best for us, God’s will becomes morally supreme 
over us, and we can neither be in the right nor the good, 
except so far as we are in harmony with that blessed 
will. 


CHAPTER IV. 


ON THE UNION OF THE HUMAN AND DIVINE WILL. 


Difference between union of the will and extinction of the will. 
—Evils of a separation of wills. — The will always acts. — Meth- 
ods by which we determine the union of wills. — Of prayer and 
faith in connection with union of moral and affectional union. — 
True idea of the death of the will. 


Union of the human will with the divine is a different 
thing from an extinction of the human will. A will, a 
proper and effective will, is essential to humanity. Man, 
without a will, ceases to be man. The perfection of 
man’s nature does not consist in the extinction of his 
will, but in its union with God’s will. 

2. The truly holy person, therefore, ought to be able » 
to say specifically, at all times, that he wills as Grod wills. 
It is due both to his happiness and his safety to be able 
to know, and on proper occasions to assert, the union of 
the two wills. If there is a separation of wills, even if 
it be a slight one, there will be likely to be something 
out of position somewhere else. A separation of wills is 
a separation of natures. As the willis, so is the man, 
either for God or against him. It is as true in philos- 
ophy as religion, that it is impossible to serve God and 
Mammon at the same time. 

3. It may be asked, perhaps, what view are we to 
take of ourselves when we do not will at all2 ‘The an- 

_swer to such a question is not difficult, because we can 
hardly ever be said to be in that state. Our whole life, 


154 DIVINE UNION. 


with the exception of purely involuntary states, may be 
represented by two terms, action and inaction. Neither 
of these states can exist without volition as its basis. If 
we act, we will to act; if we are in a state of inac- 
tion, we will not to act. Whatever state we are in 
as moral agents, and not as mere involuntary agents, 
whether it be characterized as action or inaction, we 
will to be in it. So that we may, without impro- 
priety, speak of the action of the will as perpetual. © 
Perpetual action implies the obligation of perpetual 
harmony. 

A. In order to determine whether our wills are in har- 
mony with the divine will, it is not necessary nor best, 
as a general thing, to look at the will itself, and to 
examine its action as it comes under our notice inde- 
pendently of the influences which surround it. When 
certain conditions are fulfilled, certain results may be 
expected to follow. 

And, accordingly, we may anticipate that our wills 
will be in harmony with the divine will when we are in 
the habit of asking God for a divine direction of our 
wills. ‘There can be no union with God without prayer. 
We do not mean to say that the prayer, which, if it be 
a true prayer, always implies a state of sincere and 
entire consecration, must always be formal; but there 
must always be an inward disposition, which constantly 
recognizes the soul’s dependence upon God, and which 
as constantly looks for his aid. 'To such a soul, if it 
has faith corresponding to its desires, God will not fail 
to grant his assistance. When we feel that we have 
strength from God, by feeling that we have an accepted 
communion with him, then we may have hope that we 
shall and do will only what God wills. 

5. But, in order to understand the subject fully, it 


UNION IN WILL. _ 155 


should be added, that there are two forms of union of 
the will; —namely, moral union, and affectional union. 
It is the combination of the two, uniting the outward 
act, or the thing done, with the motive of doing it, which 
constitutes perfect or holy union. 

Moral union of the will exists when the will is united 
with God by means of moral enforcement merely, that 
is to say, under the constraints of moral obligation, with- 
out the consenting and affectionate concurrence of the 
heart. Such an union, which can exist only in respect 
to outward acts, makes what the world calls a moral 
man, but not a religious one. When aman does what 
God commands,—in other words, does what is right in 
action, but does it in opposition to his own selfish desires, 
—he is in union with God, if we may so express it, mor- 
ally, or in the outward manner, but not affectionally, or 
in the inward disposition. He is a man divided ; partly 
for God, and partly againsthim. His conscience is right, 
but his heart is wrong. In the language of the apostle 
Paul, he does that which he hates to do; he does good, 
but ‘evil is present with him.” 

Some would, perhaps, say, that a union so imperfect 
as this, including only a part of our nature, is not to be 
regarded as union in any proper sense of the term. But 
looking at the subject psychologically, that is to say, in 
reference to the nature of the mind, it is obviously a 
positive or real union as far as it goes. Undoubtedly it 
is imperfect. It has not that full and broad basis which 
it might have, and which it ought to have. But still it | 
is something, and especially because it involves that con- 
viction of mind which is likely to lead to something else 
better. He who observes the Sabbath, not because he 
loves to observe it, but because his conscience requires 
it, is in a more favorable condition than he who has 


156 DIVINE UNION. 


neither conscience nor love. But if something is done, 
it is still certain that the most important part remains to 
be done. 

6. The union of the will, which has just been de- 
scribed, becomes consolidated and perfect when we add. 
the concurrence of the affections to the supports of the 
moral sense. It is this union which we have denom- 
inated affectional. In order, therefore, to that union of 
the will with God which is requisite in the highest state 
of religious experience, the action of the will, in harmo- 
nizing with God’s will, must rest upon the twofold basis 


- 


of the approbation of the conscience and of the love of the 
heart. In any other state of the mind, the union of the ~ 


will with God is more or less obstructed and enfeebled. 
When, in connection with the moral union, the obstruc- 
tion of all discordant tendencies and desires is out of the 
way, and the affections are in the right direction, the 
union is such as it shouldbe. Of a will thus united 
with God, it may be said, with almost literal truth, 
that it is the subject of a new creation, and has a new 
life. 

7. But then comes up the great question again, How 
can we obtain this basisof love? How can we be made 
to possess that which we are not possessed of, by being 
made to love that which we do not love? Especially 
as love, in that higher sense of the term which has been 
explained, is not human, but divine ; not a thing created, 
but eternal. The answer is, that God, in being a benev- 
olent existence, necessarily loves to dispense his own 
nature, to enter into all hearts where there is a possibil- 
ity of entrance, to pour out everywhere the radiance of 
his own brightness. What we have to do, then, is first 
to be emptied, in order that we may be filled; first to 


UNION IN WILL. 157 


cease from self, that we may »e recipients of that which 
‘ is not self. 

But how can we do this? Or how can we learn to 
do it? Daily, O man, is the Providence of God teach- 
ing thee, by perplexing human wisdom, by disappoint- 
ing human efforts, and by showing, in a thousand ways, 
the blindness, the weakness, and the iniquity of selfish- 
ness. It is for this that thou art smitten. Sorrow is 
thy teacher. It is a hard lesson to learn, but still a 
necessary one, that a life out of the divine life is not 
life, but that the true life is from God. Our heav- 
enly Father, in the infinite fulness of his nature, will 
pour out upon us the principle of holy love, as soon 
as we are ready to relinquish the opposing principle of 
self. | 

8. Inconnection with what has now been said, we shall 
be able to form a true idea of what is sometimes denom- 
inated the death of the will. , 

Properly speaking, or perhaps we should rather say, 
in this case, psychologically speaking, man’s will can 
never die. A will is essential to man’s nature, as it is 
to the nature of every moral being. We repeat, man 
without a will, ceases to be man. 

When, therefore, in examining the topics connected 
with religious experience, we speak of the death of the 
human will, we mean the human will considered in its 
action and its tendency to action, owt of the divine order. 
It is the human will divergent, — resting in the origin 
of its movement on the limited and depraved basis of 
personal interest, and out of harmony with the will of 
God. 

9. In the sense which has just been given, the human 
will, before it can have a higher and divine life, not only 
may die, but must die. Its death is not only possible but 

14 : 


158 DIVINE UNION. 


necessary. In its present life, if we may so express it, — 
it has its principle of movement in motives which God 
cannot respect and approve; but, on the contrary, he 
disapproves and condemns them as inconsistent with 
the highest good of the universe. From such a will he 
is necessarily excluded. | 

It is impossible, therefore, that there should be any 
mitigation of its sentence ; any pity or compromise what- 
ever with its natural life. The hand of God himself, 
through the working of his unerring providences, nails _ 
it to the cross. It may exhibit much resistance ; it may 
experience a painful and lingering death; with the nails 
driven through its hands and feet, it may plead that its 
bones may not be broken, and that its side may not be 
pierced; but no attention | can, or ought to be given to its 
supplications. 

10. The death of the will (that is to say, its death to 
the selfishness of nature) is the antecedent of its resur- 
rection to holiness. In its resurrection love takes the 
place of selfishness. 'The will can no more be born into 
its new and divine life, and expand and flourish in its new 
beauty and maturity of love, before the extinction and 
death of its natural life of selfishness, than the spiritual 
body of the resurrection, adorned with immortal beauty, 
can come into existence before the death of the natural 
body. “That which thou sowest,” says the apostle Paul, 
speaking of wheat and other grains, ‘‘is not quickened 
except it die.’ ‘So also,” he adds, “is the resurrection 
of the dead. It is sown in corruption, it is raised in 
incorruption. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in 
glory. Itis sowna natural body, it is raised a spiritual 
body.” 

And these expressions, applied to the resurrection of 
the body, are applicable to the death and resurrection 


GNLGN. LNasWilL. - 159 


of the will. If it dies to all that is the opposite of God, 
‘it is made alive to all that has God in it. Dishonored 
and corrupted in its selfish nature, it perishes and is 
thrown lifeless into its burial place, until the spirit of 
God, brooding over and operating in its ruins, brings life 
out of death, and glory out of shame. 


CHAPTER V. 


ON THE DIFFERENT DEGREES OF UNION WITH THE WILL OF 


GOD. 


Union of submission. — Illustrations. — Union accompanied with joy. 
—A third and higher form of union.— Instances. 


TaereE are different degrees of union with the Divine 


Will, some of which it may be proper to notice and dis- 


criminate. 

The first degree may be described as union with the 
divine will im submission. Submission is a relative 
term, and always implies, when employed in a religious 
‘sense, a reference to a divine arrangement or order of 
things. It is acquiescence in, or conformity to, such 
arrangement ; and is, consequently, the opposite of rebel- 


lion. Accordingly, it may always be said, when there 


is no element of positive resistance, no actual rebellious 
movement against the order of things, that there is sub- 
mission to it. And this can be said without impropriety 
and with entire truth, even if it should be the case that 
the submissive state borders so closely on the line of 


resistance as to require all our powers of thought and of | 


the will to keep it where it is. 

2. Illustrations of this state of mind are very frequent 
Occasion is furnished for them by events which are con- 
stantly taking place, — such as the loss of property and 
reputation, and the experience of physical sufferings, 
either by ourselves, or by those who are dear to us. If 


UNION IN WILL. 161 


those, who are the subjects of these trials, are truly sub- 


. missive, their minds are brought by divine grace into 


such a position, that there is actually no resistance, no 
rebellious movement, of the heart. And this is so much 
the case, that we can probably say of them, that their 
wills are in union with the divine will. 

And still their own consciousness tells them, even if 
it is not obvious to the observation of others, that it is 
the union of simple acquiescence rather than of positive 
desire; the union of submission to suffering rather than 
of love to suffering. The fact of obedience, however 
sincere and true the obedience itself may be, does not 
prevent their saying with equal truth, that it is hard for 
nature to yieldit. The tears flow, even when the 
heart does not murmur. ‘There is submission in fact, . 
but a submission which costs a struggle in the begin- 
ning, and watchfulness and struggles in the maintenance 
of it. . 

3. ‘The second degree may be described as union with 
the divine will with choice. That is to say, we not only 
submit, but submission is our pleasure, our delight. 
The endurance of loss and suffering is not, and cannot 
ordinarily be,so great as to prevent a true and substan- 
tial joy of the heart. It is said of the early Christians, 
not merely that they submitted to suffering with pa- 
tience, but that they rejoiced that they were accounted 
worthy to suffer for the name of Jesus.* It ought, per- 
haps, to be added, that persons in this state are not 
insensible to sufferings. On the contrary, they feel them; 
probably as much so as others. But while they submit 
to them by enduring them with entire patience, they 
also, in the exercise of a full and victorious faith, rejoice 


* Luke 5: 41. 
14* 


aoe a 


162 DIVINE UNION. 


in them as expressions of the divine will. They have 
learned to love the cross, as well as to bear it. 
A. This last state of mind may assume a new charac- 


ter, and may present the union of the will in a new ~ 


aspect, by becoming invigorated and perfected by habit. 
It may ultimately become so well established and strong 
that the effect of antecedent evil habits, which generally 
remains for a long time, and greatly perplexes the full 
sway of holiness in the heart, shall be done away en- 
tirely. And this is not all. In the course of time, our 
perceptions of the transcendent beauty and. excellence of 
the will of God may become so increased in clearness 
and strength, that. the pleasure of doing and suffering 
his will, increased in the same proportion, may entirely 
absorb and take away our sense of suffering. ‘The suf- 
fering will be lost in the joy. ‘‘ Death,” a name which 
includes all temporal evil, ‘(will be swallowed up in 
victory.” | 

5. It was thus, in the experience of this higher degree 
of volitional union, that Paul and Silas sung songs in 
prison. It was thus that martyrs of every age have 
illustrated the stake and the cross with their triumphs. 
It was thus that Jesus Christ, though a man of sorrows 
and acquainted with grief, ‘‘endured the cross, despised 
the shame, and is set down at the right hand of God.” 
Heb. 22: 2. 


CHAPTER VI. 


ON TRAINING THE WILL TO HABITS OF SUBJECTION. 


Necessity of personal effort.—-We should yield our wills to others 
in matters indifferent.— Extract from Antonia Bourignon. Re- 
marks on the directions given by the Saviour.— On submission 
to natural events. 


Tue closing remarks of the last chapter naturally lead 
us to a subject of no small: practical importance, that of 
training the will to habits of subjection. It is not only 
necessary that our feelings and purposes should, by 
' divine aid, be brought back to a right position, but that 
the mysterious and powerful influence of former evil 
habits should be entirely annulled. And this result is 
the more likely to be secured, if we unite the concur- 
rence of our own efforts with the operations of divine 
grace. 

2. A favorable effect will oftentimes be experienced 
in this particular, if we adopt the practice, in things 
which are indifferent, of subjecting our desires and our 
will to the will of others. In other words, our wills 
will be the more easily placed beyond the influence of 
former evil habits, and brought into undisturbed har- 
mony with God, if we keep them in subjection in our 
intercourse with men. Occasions of a conflict of will, 
in matters of mere convenience, and which involve no 
moral principle, occur constantly. In such cases, in the 
prospect we have before us of an improvement in our 
spiritual characters, we should make it a rule to give a 


¢ 


164 DIVINE UNION. 


precedence to the desires and purposes of others over our 
own. - 
“There is nothing more sweet,’”’ says Antonia Bou- 
rignon, in speaking on this. subject, “‘and which brings — 
more rest to the body and the soul, than obedience and 
submission to another in good things. Yea, obedience 
in itself is always profitable to our perfection, though it 
were yielded even to imperfect persons, provided they 
command nothing that is evil. For, by submitting to 
another in indifferent things, one always overcomes the 
corruptions of his nature, and denies himself, as Christ, 
in Mark 8: 34, has taught us to do.” * 
3. This reference to the instructions of the Saviour. 
leads us to remark, that his directions will be found, on 
a careful examination, to harmonize in a wonderful — 
manner with the tendencies and operations of the human 
mind. Under their wonderful simplicity, great insight 
and true wisdom, (estimating them even on human 
principles,) will be discovered to be hidden. ‘‘ Whoso- 
ever,” the Saviour says in the passage just referred to, 
‘will come after me, let hun deny himself, and take up 
the cross, and follow me.” ‘This command, which of 
course applies to the will as well as other things, is uni- 
versal. It implies, if we must deny ourselves in great 
things, we must deny ourselves also in those which are 
small. Such are the laws of the human mind, that 
indulgence in the latter will take away our strength; 
and deprive us of victory in the former. Deny thyself, 
therefore, in Small things; subject thy will, in matters 
of minor importance, that thou mayest have power to 
zonquer in things which are more difficult. 
A, We should deny ourselves, and bring our wills into 


* Letters of Antonia Bourignon, pp. 72, 73. 


UNION IN WILL. 165 


subjection, even in good things. Itis naturally expected 
-of the Christian, that he will have in hand many little 
designs and purposes of good in behalf of his neighbor. 
This is well, but evil will come of it, if, in connection 
with his good designs, he indulge in strong and precip- 
itate desires in bringing them to pass. His will, by 
being brought into harmony with Providence, must be 
subjected here as elsewhere. 

And here we take occasion to mention a case a 
little different from those hitherto referred to, where 
some of these remarks will apply well. It is often the 
case, in the ordinary intercourse and affairs of life, that 
our actions, without being calumniated as criminal, are 
more or less misrepresented, and our motives aspersed 
by thoughtless or evil-disposed persons. Undoubtedly 
the natural tendency of the heart, under such circum- 
stances, is to reply at once, and generally with as much 
energy as promptness. But, generally speaking, our 
true victory will be in silence. Nature speaks, but grace 
_is silent; because nature is destitute of confidence, ex- 
cept in itself, but grace has confidence in God. ‘To be 
silent, therefore, in ordinary cases, is best in every 
respect; not only because it is the course indicated by 
true religion, but because it aids in breaking down the 
irregular and sinful action of the will. 

5. And while we should thus, so far as can be done 
consistently with moral principle, subject our purposes 
to the wishes and purposes of others, we should also, 
and with the same general object, and certainly with no 
less reason, keep our wills in subjection to natural events. 
Such events are from God; and, in no case, should the 
human will set itself in opposition to them, whether they 
seem to be of greater or less consequence. How often 
are expressions of dissatisfaction and regret heard to fall 


166 DIVINE UNION. 


even from those who have the reputation of being Chris- | 


tians, in view of natural events, which no one thinks 


of controlling. To one, the weather is too warm; to — 
another, it is too cold. ‘To one, there is too little rain; — 


to another, too little sunshine. 'They thus wickedly 


unsettle the quiet of the spirit by forgetting that both 


the rain and the sunshine and all other natural things — 
are God’s; that they are all indications of [the divine 
soodness, though given in different degrees; and that 


neither regrets nor wishes can make them otherwise 


than they are. It is important to check the rising feel-— 


ing in all such cases; and, by a cheerful acquiescence, to — : 
harmonize the heart and the will with the arrangements 


of Providence. 


And these views are the more important and urgent — 
when we consider that sin, here and elsewhere, is meas- — 


ured, not so much by the occasion on which it exists, as 


by the spirit which is manifested in it. It may utter — 


itself in a loud and fierce voice, or gently breathe itself 
out in the slightest wish, that the state of things were 
otherwise than itis. But in the latter case, as well as 


in the former, there is the element of rebellion; some-_ 
thing, no matter how small it may be, which is not in 
entire harmony with God and the divine arrangements. — 


In a word, there is sin. But this is not all. Itis sm 
laying the foundation for other and higher sin. On the 
other hand, a cheerful acquiescence, in such cases as 
have been mentioned, is not only right in itself, but, by 
purifying the tendencies of the will, is laying the foun- 
dation for a better state of things in other cases of greater 
difficulty in all coming time. 


* 


CHAPTER VII. 


ON THE RELATION OF SUFFERING TO DIVINE UNION. 


Of the connection between suffering and holiness. —The separation 
from objects of unholy desire necessarily involves suffering. — When 
separated from such objects, man is led to seek God. — Suffering to 
be regarded as a spiritual privilege. — Reasons for this view. — 
Dyonysius the Areopagite. — Explanation of the ‘ divine darkness,” 


Tue way of those who truly and deeply believe, like 
that trodden by the divine Master in whom they have 
trusted, is a path of trial. ‘‘ Whosoever,’ says the 
Saviour, ‘doth not bear his cross and come after me, 
cannot be my disciple.’* ‘The most eminent Christians 
have, as a general thing, been called to pass through 
the greatest sufferings. Infinite wisdom, which explains 
the means it uses by the results that follow, has seen fit 
to connect their sufferings with their sanctification. ; God 
has seen it to be necessary that they should suffer, not 
only for the good of others, which they could easily 


‘understand, but also for their own good, the reasons of 


which it was the more difficult to see. A few remarks 
will explain, in part, the nature of this necessity. 

2. A heart unsanctified, which is the same thing as a 
heart not united with God, is a heart which has become 
disordered both in its faith and in its attachments. Its 
desires, in consequence of its faith being wrongly placed, 


* Luke 14: 27. 


168 DIVINE UNION. 


are separated from their true centre; and, consequently, 


are either given-to wrong objects, or, by being inordi- 
nate, exist in a wrong degree. The sanctification of the 


heart is its restoration from this wrong state. And this 
is done by a course the reverse of that which sin has 


previously prompted it to take, namely, by the substitu. 


tion of a right faith fora wrong one; by taking the 


desires from wrong objects, and by suppressing all their — 


inordinate action. But this is a process which is not 
ordinarily gone through without much suffering. 
3. ‘The faith and desires of the man who is disunited 


from God, are necessarily placed upon himself, includ- — 


ing in himself those things which he claims and rests in _ 


as his own. A man, for instance, has faith in his riches, ¥ 


in the lands he has purchased, and the houses he has *, 


built. His affections naturally follow in the channel of 
his faith; and he loves what he believes in. His pos- 
sessions become his God. In what way can this bond 
of unholy union be sundered? It is by destroying, in 
whole or in part, the objects to which this wrong confi- 
dence and these wrong affections attach themselves. If 
the objects remain in their strength and beauty, and 
fulfil all the purposes which are expected of them, how 
is it possible to destroy confidence and attachment? 
‘‘T spake unto thee,” says God, “in thy prosperity, and 
thou saidst I will not hear.” * And accordingly, he is 
compelled, as it were, to send his flood and fire, his pes- 
tilence and famine. Smitten and blasted in the work 
of his hands, man’s faith in human toil and acquisition 
at last fails; and he exclaims, with the wise preacher of 
the Scriptures, “All is vanity and vexation of Spirit.” 
It is then, and not till then, that he is ready to hear and 
obey the voice of his Maker. 


* Jerem, 21: 21. 


Ss 


UNION IN WILL. 169 


4, Again, man has confidence in his reputation. With 


‘eare and labor he has established a good name, which 


seems to him a tower of strength. His love corresponds 
to his faith; and he loves his honor, as he terms it, still 
more than his wealth. But since the fall of man, self- 
ishness, instead of holy love, has become the basis of 
humanity; and envy, base, malignant, and insidious, 
always follows in the track of fame. God, who knows 
his idol, has allowed the destroyer to cast it down. 
Before he is aware of it, his good name, which had been 
secured by years of toil and care, which shone high and 
bright as the sunbeam, is prostrated in the dust. His 
tears show how great and bitter is his disappointment. 
From that hour, ceasing to place confidence in himself, 
he can say, what he never said before: ‘‘I called upon 
the Lord in distress. ‘The Lord answered me, and set 
me in a large place. It is better to trust in the Lord 
than to put confidence in man.” * a 

5. And it is thus in other things. Looking every- 
where except to God, man is everywhere doomed to 
disappointment. And God, in the exercise of his mercy, 
means that he shall be. It is in mercy that the diviae 
hand is heavily upon him. In his wealth, in his health, 
in his good name, in his worldly wisdom, in everything 
which separates him from God, the storms from heaven 
sweep away the sandy foundation on which his frail house 
is built. Ceasing, under such circumstances, to have 


faith in himself, and in anything which depends upon 


himself, he has nothing left him but hopelessness and 
despair. And it is in this necessity that he begins to 
think of the true source of help. Despair of himself 
leads him to seek God. | 

6. There is truth in the saying which is found in 


* Ps, 118: 5, 8. 


170 DIVINE UNION. 


experimental writers, that the loss of ourselves is the 
possession of God. ‘The sad experience in our state of 
sin, that faith in the created and the finite has no ade- 
quate foundation, leads us back, or rather is the occasion, — 
through the grace of God, of our being led back to him, — 


who is the only proper object of faith. When the ves- 


sel of our own making sinks, when the frail plank to 


which we had clung passes from under us, it is then, 
and not till then, that we seize the strong hand of him 
who walks upon the winds and waves. We sink that 


we may rise; we suffer that we may be healed again; ~ 


we die that we may live. 


¢. In connection with what has been said, we may 
properly make the remark further, that suffering, con- 5 


sidered as a nurse of holiness, may justly be regarded 
as a spiritual privilege. Certain it is, that the only true 
pleasure, the only true privilege, which heaven or earth 
affords, is that of doing and suffering the will of God. 
All pleasure which is separate from God, is only evil 
and wretchedness in disguise. 

It is well for us to suffer, among other things, that we 
may have a better understanding of the'situation of oth- 
ers who suffer, and may have more sympathy with 
them. A fallen world, where evil is continually striving 
with good, is not the garden where true and unalloyed 
happiness may be expected to grow. Suffering, what- 
ever distinctions grace may make among men, places us 
on a level with the common lot of humanity, and leads 
us continually to think of the situation of sinners, and 
to feel for them. 

Another of the benefits connected with the endurance 
of suffering, is, that, when endured in the fulness of 
Christ’s dispositions, it imparts true liberty of spirit. It 
is hardly necessary to say, that there can be no bondage 


UNION IN WILL. 171 


to the mind that cheerfully lays all the world’s gifts upon 


‘ God’s altar. It finds its riches in having nothing, and 


realizes the feeling of its freedom in the fact that it has 
no choice separate from God's choice. 

8. Again, when suffering Is attended with right 
affections, it becomes one of the strongest, and perhaps 
the only satisfactory evidence of true love. If God 
should bestow upon us mercies alone, without trials, it 
might be difficult to say, whether we loved him for him- 
self, or only for the blessings he gave. But if our afiec- 
tion remains unshaken under the trials he sees fit to 
send, we have good reason to regard it as true. ‘The 
love which exists and flourishes ,at such times is nota 
mere accessory, dependent for its continuance upon cir- 
cumstances, but is a permanent principle. 

One remark more remains to be added. ‘The ten- 
dency of suffering is not only to lead us to God, as the 
only being who can help us, but to keep us there. ‘The 
general result, in the case of Christians, is, the more 
they suffer, the more they trust; and the more they trust, 
the more will the principle of trust or faith be strength- 
ened. So that afiliction, by impressing the necessity of 
higher aid than human, tends not only to originate, faith 
in God, but indirectly to increase it; tends not only to. 
unite us with God, but to strengthen that union. 

Indeed, it is difficult to see how faith can be much 
strengthened in any other way. When we walk by 
faith, we walk, in a certain sense, in darkness. If it 
were perfectly light around us, we should not walk by 
faith, but by open vision. Faith is a light to the soul; 

but it is the very condition of its existence, that it shall 
have a dark place to shine in. It is faith which con- 
ducts us, but our joumey is through shadows. And 
this illustrates the meaning of certain expressions fre- 


172 DIVINE UNION. 


quently found in the experimental writings of Dionysius 
the Areopagite, and found also in other writers who hold 
similar views, such as the “ night of faith,” “the divine 
darkness,” “the obscure night of faith,” and the like. 
It is hardly necessary to say, that darkness or night, 
in its application to the mind, is a figurative expression, 
and means trial or suffering, attended with ignorance 
of the issues and objects of that suffering. And, accord- 
ingly, these writers teach, in harmony with other exper- 
imental writers, that seasons of trial, leading to the 
exercise of faith, are exceedingly profitable. 'The bibli- 


cal writers, whom they profess to follow, obviously 


teach the same. ‘‘ Persecuted,” says the apostle, “ but 
not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed. Always 
bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, 
that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our 
body.” And again, “Our light affliction, which is but 
for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and 
eternal weight of glory.” 2 Cor. 4:9, 10, 17. 


GHAPTER VIII. 


ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE RELATION BETWEEN MAN AND GOD 
BY THE RELATIVE POSITION OF PARENT AND CHILD. 


Christ’s interest in little children. — Passages of Scripture. — General 
proposition deduced from them. — This proposition considered in 
particulars, namely, in faith, in knowledge, in love, and the will. — 
The existence of a filial nature not inconsistent with moral responsi- 
bility. — Remarks. 


One of the striking incidents in the history of our 
Saviour is the notice which he takes of little children. 
“ And they brought young children to him, that he should 
touch them; and his disciples rebuked those that brought 
them. But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, 
and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come 
unto me, and forbid them not; for of such is the king- 
dom of God.” Mark 10: 13, 14. And again it is said 
in Matthew,* “‘ Except ye be converted, and become as 
little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of 
heaven.” 

2. Taking all the various passages which may be 
found on this subject, we may properly deduce from 
them the following general proposition, namely: It is 
necessary to possess and to exhibit towards our heavenly 
Father such dispositions, both in kind and degree, as 


* Matthew 18: 3. 
15* 


174 DIVINE UNION. 


exist in the minds of children towards their earthly 
parents. er 
'. The analogy between the two cases is very striking; 
and it was the clear perception of its closeness, and of 
the beautiful and important instruction involved in it, 
which seems to have so much interested the Saviour’s 
mind. As he looked upon little children, he perceived 
that they felt towards their earthly fathers very much 
as he felt towards his own Father in heaven; and, with 
such a striking illustration before him of what he expe-. 
rienced in his own bosom, he could not fail to be inter- 
ested. And this striking resemblance between the feel- 
ings of the child of man and the feelings of the child of: 
God, as the former are directed towards the earthly 
parent and the latter towards the heavenly parent, will 
throw light upon and will help to confirm some of the 
leading. principles in the relations of God and man, 
which have hitherto been laid down. 

3. The general view, then, upon which we proceed in 
the remarks that follow, is this: —'The earthly child, in 
its relations to its earthly father, is the representation, the 
earthly development, if we may so express it, of the 
relations of the child of God to his Father in heaven. 

And this is seen, in the first place, in the matter of 
FalTH. Itis very obvious, in regard to the faith which 
the earthly child has in its earthly parent, that it is a 
faith given, a faith wnplanted. ‘The filial confidence 
which it exhibits is not something which the child 
makes himself; nor is it, as some seem to suppose, the 
result of experience; but is innate. God himself is the 
giver of it. Implanted by the divine hand, and operat- 
ing instinctively, the faith of the child is seen in the ear- 
liest movements of its infancy. And ever afterwards, in 
the various situations in which the child is placed, it | 


~“ 


UNION IN WILL. 175 


retains all the attributes and exhibits all the results of an 


. mplanted or connatural principle; so much so, that, to 


withhold confidence from a father or mother, we all feel 
to be doing that which is a violation of nature. 

4, And such precisely was the character of the faith 
which man possessed in his heavenly Father before he 
fell. The views which have already been presented in 
the chapters on the union of God and man in faith, are 
sustained by the beautiful analogy which is here pre- 
sented to our notice. ‘The first man was created in the 
possession of faith. We have endeavored to show, ina 
former chapter, that he could not have been created in 
any other way. ‘T’o believe in God was a nature to 
him; just as we find, at the present time, that it is 
natural for the child to place confidence in its earthly 
parent. And in the full restoration of man to God, (a 
restoration for which provision is made in the coming 
and atonement of Christ, and in the renewing agency of 


‘the Holy Spirit,) the principle of faith will be reéstab- 


lished, not merely as a variable exercise of the mind 
originating in the will, but as a permanent element or 
nature of the mind existing in harmony with the will, 
and with the will’s consent. And those who are thus 
restored will become, in respect to their faith, “little 
children.” , : 

5. Again, it is natural to the child to look up to the 
father, and to be guided by him in matters of KNowLEDGE. 
It is an established principle, in the philosophy of the 
human mind, that knowledge is and must be preceded 
by faith. The relations of the two we have already 
explained in partin former chapters. It is impossible for 
us, in the very nature of things, to accept as our teacher 
a. being in whom we have no confidence. Faith, extend- 
ing to all things which are its appropriate objects, is first 


176 DIVINE UNION. 


siven to the child as an inherent and essential part of his 
nature. Then, under the influence of that filial confi- 
dence which leads him to look to his parents for every- 
thing else, it is natural to him (and it would be against 
nature to do otherwise) to look for and to receive his 


intellectual guidance from the same parental source. 
We have evidence of this original and natural tendency 
of the mind in what we notice every day, every hour, — i" 


By a law of nature, the mind of the father becomes the 
mind of the child. ; 

It was in this manner that man, at his first creation, 
recognized God as his teacher. He believed in God, and 
received him constantly as a source of inward inspira- 
tion. God was his knowledge. Such was the state of 
things before he fell. And such will always be the state 


of things, whenever, in being united with God, he is 


brought back to the simplicity and purity of his first 
estate. 

6. Again, the child Loves his father. The evidences 
of this are constantly exhibited. He rejoices with his 
father’s joy, and weeps with his father’s sorrow. ‘The 
slightest injury to his father’s honor is felt as an injury 
to his own. ‘The true child would not hesitate to die for 
‘ts father or mother, if the occasion presented. And this 
strong and permanent love is not a matter of calculation, 
but a nature. It is born with him, grows with him, lives 
with him. Blows will not beat it down; waters will 
not drown it; fires will not burn it. 

At his first creation, man’s love to his heavenly Father 
was like this, —a- love implanted by a divine power, 
and kept in operation by a divine presence. He after- 
wards lost it, itis true; but he could not have lost it, if 
he had not first possessed it. As a moral being, man 
was allowed, and perhaps we may Say, was expected 


UNION IN WILL. 177 


and required, to sanction the principles and methods of 
his inward vitality, by his own voluntary concurrence. 
Failing to do this, in a way and under circumstances 
which the human mind does not now perhaps fully 
understand, God withdrew himself as the central ele- 
ment of his being; and he became from that time the 
subject of spiritual alienation and death. But in his — 
restoration to God through Christ, he is necessarily 
restored to the possession of that divine nature from 
which he fell. As he is made anew in faith and knowl- 
edge, so he is made anew in love. ‘The lost principle of 
holy love is not only restored, but becomes again, under 
the transforming operations of divine grace, what it was 
in the beginning, namely, a nature, —an operative life, 
moved by a power of movement existing in itself. In 
other words, it once more becomes in relation to God 
what the child’s love is in relation to its earthly father. 
7. We proceed to remark, further, that the will of the 
child is naturally merged in the will of the father. 
There is a nature in this case, as there is in the others. 
he filial will is not harmonized in the parental will as 
a matter of calculation, but as the result of a mental ten- 
dency. ‘There are, undoubtedly, some variations from 
this view, in consequence of the power of choice inher- 
ent in the will, and particularly in consequence of man’s 
fallen condition; but what has been said is correct asa 
general statement. Accordingly, yielding readily to the 
tendency of their mental position, little children do what 
they are commanded todo. Sometimes it will cost them 
trouble and suffering; but this does not alter the general 
direction and the general inclinations of their feelings 
and actions. Subjecting their own wisdom to a higher 
wisdom, they have an instinctive feeling that their ap- 
propriate and first business is to harmonize with the 


178 DIVINE UNION. 


expression of a parent’s will. And so strong is this ten- 
dency to a union of wills, that very frequently they act 
without knowing what will be the end of their action. 
It is natural to them to leave everything with their 
father, — the mode, the time, the object, and the results 
of action, as well as the action itself. 


8. And this, in a remarkable manner, represents the in 


state of things as it existed in man at his first creation, 
The will of Adam, before he fell, not only harmonized — 

perfectly with the divine will, but naturally; that is to . 
say, without effort, and by an implanted tendency. It is 
so with all holy beings now. It was eminently so, (as I 


think we may safely infer from the passages which indi- — ; 


cate his submission and union of will,) with Christ, the 
second Adam; and it will be found to be so with all 
those who are restored again and perfected in Christ’s 
image. What God chooses, they choose. What God 
wills, they will. ‘The will becomes in relation to God 
what the will of the affectionate and dutiful child is to — 
its earthly parent. 3 

9. These views help to the better understanding of , 


what was said in a former chapter in relation to the i: 


different kinds of union. ‘Some of the remarks to which 
we refer were these: ‘‘ Union, as we desire to develop it 
in this treatise, is not merely a treaty of peace, nor even , 
the closer compact of alliance; but a combination or 
union of nature; not the union of juxtaposition, but 
of filiation; not the union of convention, but the union 
of life. It is to this union that all who are born of God 
must at last come;—not uniting with God, as man 
unites conventionally with his fellow-man, in the forma- 
tion of civil society, or for any other purpose, but with 
that union of life with life, which binds together the 
father and the son.” ‘ 


UNION IN WILL. 179 


- With the illustrations which have just been given, it 


“is to be hoped that this important and fundamental posi- 


tion will be more clearly understood. Undoubtedly the 
analogy would be more perfect, if the earthly parents 
and children had not fallen into sin. But still, with all 
the drawbacks which are attributable to that cireum- 
stance, it strikingly indicates what man was in the 
beginning, and what he is destined to be in the future ; 
—not merely a servant, not merely a conventional coad- 
Jutor; but a son in the image of his Father, coming into 


_ existence in a true descent, and by the principle of a 


divine filiation. 

10. It may be proper here to take into consideration, 
in a few words, the great objection which so frequently 
presents itself. It will be likely to be said that the idea 
of union with God, on the principle of a nature, is incon- 
sistent with moral freedom. It may be replied, in the first 
place, that the subject of moral freedom, considered in 
any point of view, and in the light of any hypothesis, is 
attended with difficulties, when taken in connection, as 
it always ought to be, with the continual and_ perfect 
superintendence of God. Some of the ablest mental 
philosophers have recognized this difficulty without 


. attempting to solve it; and we think, on a careful 


examination, it will not be found to be greater on the 
view which has now been presented, than it is on others. 
11. With this general remark kept in mind, we pro- 
ceed to the consideration of this topic in another light. 
Our general view of the matter, examined in a few 
words, is this. We take it for granted that the filial life, 
the life of the child, is properly designated, and that :t 
in fact is, a NaruRE; not, however, a material nature, 
which is wholly inflexible in its modes of operation, but 
a mental nature. ‘Certain it is that men generally, per- 


~ 


180 DIVINE UNION. 


haps we may say without exception, speak of the affec- — | 
tion of the son or daughter as anatural affection. At the 
same time we never regard the exercise of the affection, — 
although it is allowedly an exercise of nature, as incon- — 
sistent with moral obligation. 'That is to say, the filial 
affection is a nature which is susceptible of a moral 


character. Accordingly, in the case of all persons, who ye 


freely and cheerfully allow the filial nature to act itself 
out as a nature, it must obviously be regarded as a na- 


ture which harmonizes with choice, and is sustained by 
choice. In other words, wherever it freely acts itself out 
as a nature, it is chosen and approved and aided asa 


nature by him who is the subject of it. All the powers — 


of the mind are then consentingly and approvingly given 


in the right direction. And, in consequence of this har- : 
mony of a free choice with the instincts and tendencies 
of nature, we always look upon such persons with moral 
approbation. 

God himself commends and approves such. ‘Honor — 
thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long ‘ 
upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.” It 
is natural to honor our father and mother; and yet there — 
is so much of a moral quality in such honor that God — 
distinctly approves and rewards it. : 

12. And, on the other hand, the obstruction of the op-_ 
eration and tendencies of this implanted nature by efforts 
of the will is regarded as an immorality. Such cases 
sometimes occur. 'There are some persons, who not only 
fail to sustain their filial nature by the hearty concur- 
rence of the acts of the will, but resist its tendencies m ~ 
various ways, and finally prostrate it. ‘The contest, 


however, is generally a severe one. God respects his 


own work, and delights in it; and, accordingly, he 
endeavors to sustain it when it is assailed. But he also 


| 
| 
! 


UNION IN WILL. 181 


| respects and delights in that moral freedom and choice, 


| A ‘ : 
‘which he has given to man. And whenever men, in the 
exercise of their volitional power, have resisted the laws 


and operations of God in the soul (we mean now the nat- 


ural laws and operations) to a certain point, he abandons 
them; he leaves them to themselves; and they become 


unnatural. 'They have destroyed their nature, because 
God has ceased to sustain their nature against the neglect 
and opposition of their own wills. So that it is proper 
to say, (and there is fearful import in the words,) that 
the unnatural son and daughter, that the unnatural 


| father and mother, are left of God. 


A nature which can thus be sustained by our adoption 


and concurrence, or injured and sometimes destroyed by 
our opposition, harmonizes entirely with the principles 
of morals. So that the nature which constitutes the 


| child what he is, is not more a filial nature than it is a 


- moral nature. 


13. And, in like manner, in once more becoming the 


children of God, we receive and retain a filial nature, 


but without ceasing to possess a moral nature. Much is 


involved in that free and full consecration which every 
true Christian is supposed to have made of himself to 
his heavenly Father. As free and moral agents, we 


consent now and forever, if we do what we ought to do, 
that God shall be a truth, a life, a nature in us; which 
he never has been and never will be without our consent. 


_ Adam before he fell, Christ in his humanity, angels in 


heaven, all holy beings everywhere, either have existed, 
or do now exist, as holy beings, by means of the opera- 
tion of God in the soul; and yet without any alienation 
of their moral attributes and responsibilities, because 
they have received this operation with their own choice, 
and have sanctioned it by their own approbation. 


16 


182 DIVINE UNION.’ 


4 


With these explanations, we repeat that there is no true 
place of rest and safety, short of the reéstablishment of — 


those relations which we have endeavored to illustrate. — 


Accordingly, we cannot regard it as safe for any one to” 
stop in the progress of inward experience, until he feels 
and knows that he has become, in the Scripture sense of 
the terms, a LITTLE cuiLD; not only having a child’s 
name, but a child’s nature. And when this relation is 
reéstablished, not as a name merely, but asa reality, —_ 
not as a mere conventional arrangement, but as a true — 
nature, — then, and not till then, we are brought into true 
union with our heavenly Father. | 
14. One remark more only remains to be added. It 
is on these principles, and these only, that we can make 
our position harmonize with our prayers. When we 
pray, we address God as our Father. This implies that | 
we either are, or ought to be, his children. And our 
language throughout in prayer corresponds to the idea 
that our true position is the filial position. We pray that 
we may distrust and renounce ourselves, and look, only 
to God for guidance and support. Recognizing our ina- 
bility to supply our own wants, we pray for faith, for 
wisdom, for love, for the guidance of our wills. We go 
to him,-in form at least, just as the little child goes to its 
earthly parent. If we will go in the same sincerity, our 
heavenly Father will recognize the relationship, and we 
shall thus become the true sons of God. 


PART SIXTH. 


ON UNION WITH GOD IN HIS PROVIDENCES. 


CHAPTER I. 


ON THE TRUE IDEA OF PROVIDENCE AND EXTENT. 


Origin and meaning of the term providence. — Importance of the doc- 
trine of Divine Providence. — Of the difference between a partic- 
ular and a general providence. —Of the recognition of a particular 
providence by the heathen. — Of its recognition in the Scriptures. — 
The providence of God extends not only to individuals, but to fam- 
ilies and nations. 


Tue word providence is derived from the Latin term 
PROVIDENTIA, Meaning watchfulness, care, oversight. As 
the term is commonly employed, it means the constant 
oversight or care which God exercises over all his works. 

2. “The doctrine of divine providence,” says a judi- 


cious writer, “‘is of the very first importance, and con- 


tributes greatly to the peace and happiness of human 
life. Were it not that God maintained a constant and 


watchful care over all his works, all piety would imme- 


diately cease. A God who did not concern himself in 
the affairs of the world, and especially in the actions of 
men, would be to us as good as none at all. In that 
case, should men live in a virtuous and pious manner, 
they would have no approbation to expect from him. 


184 DIVINE UNION. 


Should they be guilty of crimes, they would have no 
punishment to fear. Were they persecuted, they would 
think of God only as the idle witness of their wrongs. 


Were they in circumstances of suffering and sorrow, 
they could find no consolation if God were unmindful 
of them.” * : 

3. In considering this important and interesting sub- 
ject, it is proper to notice the distinction which is fre- 


quently made between a particular and general provi- — 
dence. It is certainly doubtful whether such a distinc- ~ 
tion ought to be made ; — especially if the doctrine of a — 


general providence is designed to supersede that of a 
particular providence. How can we readily conceive 


of a general providence, extending its watchfulness over | 


things in their general aspects, which does not involve 
the fact of a particular providence, extending its watch- 
fulness at the same time to those particulars, out of 
which that which is general is constituted? If there is a 
God, to whom the attributes usually ascribed to God 
belong, there is and must be a providence of God. If 
there is a providence of God extending with any degree 
of certainty, and with any good results, to things in 
their general nature, it extends to everything. We do 
not propose, however, to enter into an argument in sup- 
port of a view which seems to us to be obvious of itself. 

4. It is the rejection of the doctrine of providence, 
considered as entering into particulars, which constitutes 
one of the great evils, the practical atheism, perhaps we 
may call it, of the age in which we live. It is true, 
undoubtedly, that men, with but few exceptions, admit 
the existence of a God; but they do not admit, except in 
a very mitigated and imperfect sense, his presence and 


* Lectures on Christian Theology, by George Christian Knapp. 


as 


UNION IN PROVIDENCE. 185 


supervision. ‘They allow him a being, but they practi 


‘ eally strike off its infinity, by assigning him a distant 


and strictly bounded locality. ‘They allow him the priv- 


ilege of casting a look down upon the world’s affairs; 


but cannot bear the thought that the world does not and 
cannot go on without him. Here, then, is one of the 
great evils of the day, one of the secrets of our misery ; 
the acknowledgment of God’s existence, with the excis- 
ion of his practical omnipresence ; the recognition of God 
in general, but the rejection of him as God in particular. 
_ 5. One would be almost inclined to think that heathen 
nations are less faulty in this particular than those 
which bear the name of Christians. The untutored sav- 
age 
‘« Sees God in clouds, and hears him in the wind.” 


Because an advanced knowledge in the sciences has ex- 
plained many physical laws, men have fallen into the 


‘habit of ascribing to law what belongs to agency. And 


by thus attributing almost everything to what they 
denominate the laws of Nature, they forget the God of 
Nature. The mind of the savage, on the contrary, con- 
templating the result without understanding the law by 
which it is brought about, sees God in all the objects 
around him. It is God, dwelling in the cave of its foun- 
tain waters, who pours down the mighty rivers. It is the 
Great Spirit that sends the storm and the lightning from 
the mountain tops. It is God that shines in the sun. 
and walks in the clouds, and dwells even in four-footed 
beasts and creeping things. Here is a great truth, 
founded in the nature of God, although it is perverted 
and darkened in its development by the imperfection of 
fallen hearts. It is a truth, therefore, which ought to 
be respected. And the question may be put jn all sin- 
16* 


186 DIVINE UNION. 


cerity: — Who would not rather be the superstitious 
savage than the unbelieving philosopher? 

6. It is certainly necessary that science, hewildrel 
in its own wanderings, should return at last, and bap- 
tize itself in the truth of the Scriptures; those Scriptures 
which constantly associate God with all his works. ‘The 
beautiful Psalms, unequalled in poetry as they are in 
devotion, may be said to be built upon this great idea, 
which is equally philosophical and religious. Speaking 
of God, the Psalmist says, ‘‘ He sendeth the springs into 
the valleys, which run among the hills. He watereth 
the hills from his chambers. He causeth the grass to 
erow for the cattle, and herb fer the service of man. He 
hath planted the cedars of Lebanon, where the birds 
build their nests. He appointeth the moon for seasons; 
and the sun knoweth his going down. ‘Thou makest | 
darkness, and it is night, wherein all the beasts of the 
forest do creep forth. The young lions roar after their 
yrey, and seek their meat from God.” * 

This is the spirit which pervades these divine poems. 
They everywhere represent the union of God with his 
works by an ever-present supervision and love. It is_ 
not a system of second causes, it is not nature, but G'od, 
who does all. It is God ‘who covers the heavens with 
clouds, who prepares rain for the earth, who maketh 
grass to grow upon the mountains. He giveth to the 
beast his food, and to the young ravens which cry.” + 

The same spirit, the same devout disposition to recog- 
nize God in everything, pervades all parts of the Scrip- 
tures. 

7. It is interesting to see how many passages there 
are in the Scriptures which speak of God’s protection of 
animals, even of those which are the least considerable, 


* Psalin 104: 10, 20. + Psalm 147: 8, 9. 


UNION IN PROVIDENCE. 187 


He takes care of the cattle of the fields; he feeds the 
* young lions; he plants the cedars where the birds build 
their nests. ‘Behold the fowls of the air,” says the 
Saviour, ‘‘ for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor 
gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth 
them.” It is not possible that he should take less care 
of man. Of all the existences on the earth, man stands 
the first, and God loves him most. The Saviour adds, 
for the comfort of those who heard him when speaking 
of God’s care of the birds, ‘‘ Are ye not much better than 
they?” As much as if he had said, the God who pro- 
vides for them cannot fail to provide for you, who are 
so much more important in his estimation. And, in 
another passage, he says, “‘ Are not five sparrows sold 
for two farthings? And not one of them is forgotten 
before God. But even the very hairs of your head are 
all numbered. Fear not, therefore, ye are of more value 
than many sparrows.” 

8. ‘Truly here is a great truth, worthy of our constant 
contemplation. Around every individual, no matter 
what may be his situation, is thrown the shield of the 
divine presence, love, and care. Every individtial can 
say of himself, God is with me. He is not a God afar 
off. He knoweth my down-sitting and up-rising, my 
going out and my coming in. He not only knows, but 
he orders events concerning me. 

Nor is there any limit to the divine presence and 
operation, except that which is interposed by unbelief. 
God will do all, operating in entire harmony with the 
laws of our mental constitution, if we only have faita 
enough to leave ourselves entirely in his hands, and let 
him do all. He will not, in the present state of things, 
so interpose and extend his own action as to prevent the 
concurrence of ours. But, nevertheless, he will unite 


188 ‘DIVINE UNION. 


the two in such a manner that we shall recognize every _ 
good thing as coming from him. In reference to the 
daily support received from him, we shall be ready to 
say, with an eminent English writer, who had passed — 
through many vicissitudes and trials, ‘I have been fed 
more by miracle than Elijah when the angels were’his— 
purveyors.” * | 

9. He, who is the ever-present Guide and Father of 
the individual, is the Father also of family associations, 
All associations, which exist with the divine approba- 
tion, have a community of character and interest, which © 
not only involves a common responsibility, but renders 
them susceptible of a common allotment. They can 
be guided, protected, and blessed in their common or 
associated position as truly as in that which'is indi- © 
vidual. ‘God setteth the solitary in families.” Hav- 
ing established and recognized, in a multitude of in- 
stances, the family relation, he bestows his favor or 
disapprobation on families, according as they conform to 
or violate the ends for which they were established. 
‘The community principle is especially represented and _ 
consolidated in the father. If he is a man of prayer and 
faith, he is a channel of blessings to all the members. 
But if it be otherwise, they all suffer. God, operating 
in a little different manner in consequence of the new 
facts and relations existing, is the God of families as well 
as of individuals. If they endeavor to discharge their 
family duties in a proper manner, and look to him for 
guidance and assistance, they will not fail to find it. If 
they forget him, it will be a necessary result that they 
will be forgotten. 3 

10. God, in the exercise of his providential care, is — 


* Daniel Defoe. 


SS = 


UNION IN PROVIDENCE. 189 


the Judge and Father also of great commonwealths. 


Y The idea that God should be united to man as an indi- 
vidual, and in his relation to families, but forgetful of 


~ and alien to those bodies of men which are denominated 
civil societies, — governing the one, and leaving the other 


without government, — would be exceedingly absurd. If 


he cannot abandon a man, nor the hair of a man’s head, 


how can he abandon a nation or any part of a nation’s 
interests? It is an obvious dictate of reason, therefore, 
that he who is watchful over the less, will be careful of 
the greater; that he, who watches over the members of - 
the body, will take care of the whole body, if he has the 
power and qualifications to do so; and that he, who is 
the head of the citizen, a fortiori, if his capacity equals 
the impulses of his benevolence, will be the head of the 
state. 

11. And it is certain that what is reasonable in this 
case is also scriptural. The Bible everywhere repre- 
sents God as the God of nations. How often is it said, 
in Daniel, in Job, in the Psalms, and everywhere, that 
“the kingdom is the Lord’s;” that ‘ He is Governor 
among the nations;” that He ‘‘removes and sets up 
kings!” What was the language which David used in 
his great contest with the Philistine chief, — young as 
he was, and just come from the flocks and the pastures 
of Bethlehem? ‘Thou comest to me,” said David, 
“with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: 
but I come unto thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, 
the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. 
This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand; 
and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee. 
And I will give the carcasses of the hosts of the Philis- 
tines unto the fowls of the air and to the wild beasts of 
the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a 


* 
190 DIVINE UNION. 


God in Israel. And all this assembly shall know that 
the Lord saveth not with sword and spear; for the 
battle is the Lord’s, and He will give you into our 
hands.” a 

What was the declaration of the Spirit of the Lord, 
by the mouth of his prophet, to Jehoshaphat, king of 
Judah? ‘Thus saith the Lord unto you, Be not afraid 
nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude ; for the 
battle is not yours, but Grod’s, Ye shall not need to 
‘fight in this battle; set yourselves, stand ye still, and 
see the salvation of the Lord with you, O Judah and | 
Jerusalem; fear not, nor be dismayed ; to-morrow go out — 
against them, for the Lord will be with you.” And itis — 
added, after some account of the great victory which the 
Lord gave: ‘So the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet; 
for his God gave him rest round about.” * 

12. The doctrine, that God in his providence is to be 
recognized as the God of all societies and nations, is not 
only sustained by reason and by the Scriptures, but the 
facts which are presented in history constantly and 
clearly confirm it. ‘T’o the eye of a disciplined and com- _ 
prehensive faith, the footsteps of God, as they are left in — 
the great pathway of nations, are as plain as if they 
were impressed and written there in letters of light. God 
is to be found in the dust of Nineveh and the ruins of 
Thebes. If he raised them to mighty power, he also, in 
the day of his righteous retribution, clothed them in 
sackcloth, and made them desolate. It was God who 
planted the Israelites in Egypt in the condition of slave- _ 
ry, and who afterwards employed them in the punish- — 
ment of their masters, and then led them to the over- 
throw of the corrupt nations of Palestine. 'The Israel- 


* 2d Chron., ch. 20. 


} ' 

| UNION IN PROVIDENCE. 191 

-jtes themselves had their day of progress and decline, 

| according as they walked in God’s ways, or were diso- 

pedient. It was God, making the crime of human 

ambition the blind but effective instrument in fulfilling 
his own mighty purposes, who called the Assyrians from 
the banks of the Euphrates to the overthrow of the 
Israelites. ‘The Assyrians, in their turn, with Babylon, 
their immense city, fell under the arm of the destroyer. 
God found an instrument of his mighty purposes where 
none was supposed to exist. He raised up the Persian 
Cyrus, and called’ him by name many years before his 
birth, and said, ‘I will go before thee.” And again, 
‘‘T am the Lord, and there is none else; there is no God 
besides me. I girded thee, though thou hast not known 
me.’ — Isa. 45: 8. 

The contemplative mind will see, in the history of all 
nations, not excepting those of modern times, the evi- 
dences of an overruling Providence. ‘They stand or fall 
as they stand in or out of God. When nations have 
obeyed him, they have lived. When they have forgot- 
ten him, they have been destroyed. ‘To forget God is to 
sin. And all sin has in itself an element of self-destruc- 
tion. It is internal disorganization and weakness as 
well as immorality. And it is not in the power of God, 
while it continues sin, and is thus placed out of the reach 
of his protection, to save it either from decay or sorrow. 
With no divine arm under it, it is prostrated by its own 
recumbence. But as it lies scattered and decayed in the 
ashes of successive generations, it shows the burning 
footprints of the divine displeasure. 

13. Such is the true idea of Divine Providence; ex- 
tending to all things which exist, to things animate and 
inanimate, organized and unorganized, to plants, and 
trees, and animals, to men, to families, to nations; wide 


192 ; DIVINE UNION. 


as the universe, sleepless as the divine omniscience, 


effective as the supreme power; always holding in 
respect, however, the moral freedom of all moral agents, 
and inviting, without forcibly compelling, them to accept 


that daily bread of superintendence and love which is 


the true element of everlasting life. 


* 


CHAPTER II. 


ON THE LAW OF PROVIDENCE IN DISTINCTION FROM THE GEN- 
ERAL NATURE OR FACT OF PROVIDENCE. 


Of the distinction between Providence and the law of Providence.— 
Of the foundation of the law of Providence. — Illustrations of the 
subject. — Of the harmony of the providential law, and the law of 
the Scriptures. — Practical remarks. 


In the preceding chapter we have endeavored to illus- 
trate what we consider to be the true idea of Provi- 
dence, considered both in its nature and its extent. But 
it should be remembered that Providence is one thing; 
the Jaw of Providence is another. Providence is God’s 
arrangement of things and events in the world, including 
his constant supervision. The law of Providence, in 
‘distinction from Providence in itself considered, is the 
RULE OF ACTION, which is contained in, and which is 
developed from, this providential arrangement. 

2. We cannot well understand and appreciate the 
doctrine of the law of Providence without some proper 
view of the mutual relationship and connection of things. 
It was a maxim of the Schoolmen, and is not less a 
maxim of nature, NIHIL EX NIHILO Fit. Everything, 
therefore, which exists, if it do not have an existence 
which is eternal and independent, must come from a 
common source. Consequently, there must be some 

common buccal a some common. alliances. 


have them, as it were, by inheritance. It is not easy to. 


194 DIVINE UNION. 


And this is just as true of events which exist in n time 
as of things which exist in place. It is true of every~ | 
thing of which it can be said, itis. If God calls into — 
existence, or, in any way, gives rise to certain things and | 
events and establishes them in their order, which, as a 
“God of order,” he cannot fail to do, he necessarily 4 
gives to them their position, their relations, their rights, 
their influences. All these are theirs by the nature of 
the case. They do not make them of themselves, bul 


ind sl oe 


see how it can be otherwise. It is a matter of necessity, 5 
although we may pfoperly make a distinction between 
things and events in some respects, that they should — 
have their place and relations, their appropriate rights, 7 
their appropriate effects. 
3. We will endeavor to illustrate what we mean, in, 
the first place, from things which have merely an ani- 
mate, and not a moral, existence. Among the multi- 
tude of created things that fill the air and earth, behold 
the feeble worm that makes its home in the clod. God. 
has created it. Here is a fact, unimportant as it may 
seem to bé, which makes a part, nevertheless, of his 
providential arrangements. The fact of the creation of | 
this worm involves the fact of a sphere of life; that is to 
say, an appropriate place of residence, and adequate 
means of protection and support. This little animal 
has not only its assigned place and its means of protec- 
tion, but it has its rights and claims also in relation to_ 
other beings; rights which reach from the dust in which. 
it crawls to the infinite throne, and are as unchangeable. 
as immutable justice, Infinite holiness holds its egis 
over this weak creature. Continually the burning eye. | 
‘of Jehovah watches in order to see who invades its 
sphere, and does it an injury. The protection which 1 is 


3 f. 


UNION IN PROVIDENCE. 195. 


| assured to it is not measured by the fact of its strength, 
“but by the fact of its existence. God cannot create a 
' being without, at the same time, pledging his friendship 
toit. The providence of God, therefore, cannot place a 
werm by our side without establishing a code of laws 
between us. The traveller, who sces it crawling in the 
dust, is obliged to turn aside his foot. ‘The obligation 
binds the tread of a king as clearly and strongly as the 
tread of a peasant. He who crushes it without a justi- 
_fiable cause violates the moral order of things, and 
_tramples on the eternal will of the Creator. 


A. Still more easily is the subject illustrated from 


other instances, where the rights of human beings are 
involved. Not far distant from a certain rich man’s 
_ residence is a very poor family. One of its children has 
_ been infirm and helpless from birth; and nothing but the 
_ aid of others, more favored in their circumstances, can 
_ save it from the greatest suffering. 'The position of the 


child, with its wants and sufferings, is a PROVIDENCE. 
The duty, which devolves upon the rich man to take an 
interest in its welfare, and to render it aid, is the daw of 
Providence. ‘The law is developed from existing things ; 


but, as the things existing are from God, the law which 
they disclose and establish is from him also. And he, 
who will not see a worm trampled upon without dis- 


pleasure, will never see an injury done to an immortal 
_ being with impunity. | 


5. And it is thus with everything. Things animate 
and things inanimate, things in space and things in 
time, things said and things done, all being and all action, 
in themselves and in their relations, in their rights and 
in their influences, form a part of the great system of 
the facts and arrangements of divine Prowidence. Man, 
and all the acts and all the sufferings of which he is the 


196 DIVINE UNION. 


source and the subject, is placed in the midst of this 
sreat ocean; this great and moving flux and reflux of 


other men, and other acts, and other sufferings, and is 


required to be in moral harmony with it. It is this 


requisition, this rule, existing under these circumstances, 


which constitutes the providential law, — a law operating - 


from the external upon the internal; a law founded in 


infinite wisdom, just and inflexible in its requirements, 


just and inflexible in its retributions. 
6. The law of Providence coincides with the law of 


the Scriptures. God, who speaks in Providence as well — 


as in the Scriptures, cannot utter voices which, in their 


principles and claims, are discordant with each other. 


We may sometimes fail in our interpretations of the 


Scriptures; we may sometimes attach a meaning to them 


different from God’s meaning; but when the declaration 
of God in the Scriptures is rightly understood, it will 
always be found to harmonize with his providential voice. 


If, for instance, he requires us, in his written law, to love _ 


our neighbor as ourselves, he has also arranged in such — 


a manner the things and relations which constitute his 
providential law as to make the same requisition. And 
it will be found true, under the operation of the divine 


Providence, that man will and must suffer just in pro- — 


portion as he comes short of that divine law of love. It 
will be the same in other similar instances. 


7. In view of this important subject, so far as it has | 
now been developed, a number of practical remarks may | 


properly be made here; and one is, that it is an important 
part of Christian duty to study God’s will in his provi- 
dences. We neither know how to act, nor how to feel, 
without a regard to them. ‘This remark is sufficiently 
obvious in relation to action. It is hardly less obvious in 
relation to feeling. For instance, a near friend dies, per- 


UNION IN PROVIDENCE. 197 


haps a child, or brother. This is an event in Providence. 
i The feeling appropriate to it is sorrow; but, when we 
consider that, being an event in Providence, it is an event 
- ordered in divine wisdom, the appropriate feeling is not 
only sorrow, but sorrow mingled with acquiescence and 
patience. The law of Providence requires this modifi- 
cation of the feeling as strictly and as truly as the written 
law; so that we may lay it down as a principle, that the 
law of Providence must regulate, to a considerable ex- 
tent, not only our outward acts, but our affections. It 
is Providence which places before us the objects we 
must love; and, what is more, it indicates the degree of 
our love, and the ways of its manifestation. And, on the 
other hand, the same Providence indicates to us the 
objects which should excite our disapprobation, and also 
the degree and manner of our disapprobation. 

8. Another remark is this. If we are in full harmony 
with Providence, we walk in all things humbly and 
softly, neither too slow nor too fast. ‘The light which 
is imparted to us, is given moment by moment. And it 
is the true light, if our souls are so far renovated into 
the nature of Christ as to be in a disposition to receive 
it. It teaches us, not only to work ror God, but, what 
is hardly less important, to work wita God;— that is 
to say, in harmony with his own wise and benevolent 
plans. 

_ 9. Again, in acting in accordance with Providence, 
we do good without doing evil. No matter how desir- 
able a thing may appear to be to us, if the law of Provi- 
dence stands in our way, it cannot be done. There is, in | 
such a case, what is called a moral, in distinction from a 
physical, impossibility, because the thing cannot be done 
without violating other obligations. Therefore, we are 
to do the good which we are called to do ; in other words, 

_ L7* 


ee yeni! 
i ae di ve gin gh Se Sites ot ene 
ie: Tek 


Copia hE LE RR eRe Fe i 
Bhai ll doce ie wh aig BEA 
nf Vas ae mi A UP pa 2 He oe ‘tp pheh ly iy D tier aeis 8 ye i ; af 


a mga bikin site on slbacen PER aks Mi BGP 
. i i ih ity! olea ih Ming ‘antes a0 


atts GO on GA SUES 5 
‘oesi niyo yen ce ai see Loneide navenkat 


CHAPTER III. 


ON THE STRICTNESS OF THE RETRIBUTIONS OF THE LAW OF 
PROVIDENCE. 


Of the opinions which prevail on this subject.— Reference to physical 
laws. — Illustrations of the subject from civil and criminal laws. — 
The providential law more inflexible in its results than other laws. 
— Illustrations of this truth. — Of violations of Providence when the 
motives are good.— Of the regulation of the affections. — Illustra- 
tions and remarks. 


In the last chapter reference was made to the inflexi- 
bility of the providential law. It is strict and inflexible 
both in its requirements and in its retributions. It has 
in itself a power of punishment, which evil-doers cannot 
escape. - 

This is a subject of so much importance, that we 
propose to examine it further, and more particularly, in - 
this chapter; especially as the doctrine of a providential 
retribution, invariably inflicted, is not generally received. 
It does not appear to be the common opinion. 

2. here seems to be good reason for saying, that 
common opinion, founded upon the general experience, 
assents to the strictness and inflexibility of the action of 
physical laws. Ifa man, for instance, thrusts his hand 
into the fire, we have no doubt that he will be burned. 
If he plunges himself into the depths of the ocean, we are 
confident that he will be drowned. If he throws himself 
down a rocky eminence, we naturally expect that he 
will be dashed to pieces. The result, secured by known 
and inflexible physical laws, is considered certain. 


200 DIVINE UNION. 


It may be added, that common opinion attaches the — 


same idea of strictness and inflexibility to the action of — q 


laws instituted by civil governments. If a man,con- | 
trary to the laws of the land, takes another’s property, it 
is generally regarded as a matter of certainty that punish- — 


ment will overtake him. If a man strikes another, the 
law, without regard to his position in society, or even 
his penitence, strikes him in return. Fines, stripes, 


stocks, prisons, show how inflexible is the arm of civil 


and criminal justice. 


But it does not appear to be the common opinion that — 1 


the retributions of the providential law are equally strict, 


equally inflexible. The tendency 1s, partly because its . 
modes of operation are less obvious to the senses, to look ~ 


upon Providence as a lenient master, who generally de- 
fers punishment, who punishes slightly at most, and 
sometimes not at all. But this isa mistake. ‘The provi- 
dential law is as strict in its operation as the others, and 
even more so. It is possible, certainly, that natural laws 
may be suspended in their operation, and may fail. ‘The 
penalty of the civil and criminal laws may sometimes be 


evaded. But the retributions of the providential law, (art | 
law modified in its application by the incident of existing 
facts and events, but always founded on the principles 


of eternal right and wrong,) can never be annulled, can 
never be escaped. 

3. If the providence of God has brought together a 
rich and a poor man, under such circumstances that it 


becomes the duty of the rich man to aid the poor, and he 
refuses to do it, it is impossible for him, in any way, 3 
except by sincere repentance, to escape the penalty of 


his wrong-doing. He will ask, perhaps, why he was 
bound to support or aid the poor man more than an- 
other? The answer is, it was not necessary that all 


| 


| 


UNION IN PROVIDENCE. 201. 


should confer their benevolence at the same time; and 
the law of Providence, operating in connection with the 
existing facts in the case, made its selection, and the lot 


fell upon him. The fact that Providence had given him 
a particular location, involved also the assignment of a 
_ particular duty. In refusing to perform that duty, he has 


exposed himself to a penalty. When or where it will 
come, he cannot foresee; but its terrible advent is inev- 
itable in its appointed time. 

A man has a family, or is in some way connected 
with one. He is a father, brother, husband, or son. 
Perhaps he sustains all these important relations at once. 
He has a moral nature; and Providence, which makes 
all these arrangements, has assigned and settled his 
position. Out of his moral hature and the position which 
is thus assigned him, is developed the obligation or law 
of specific duty. We properly denominate it, in this case, 
as in others, the providential law. As a father, brother, 
husband, or son, he has duties to perform, which would 
not be binding upon him if he were not placed in that 
particular situation. If he fails in those duties, whatever 
their nature, and whether the failure be more or less, he 
incurs a penalty, which may not be particularly noticed 
or felt at the time, but from which there is and can be 
no escape. 

_ There is no apparent administration. 'There is nothing 

exterior, nothing seen. No judge is seated on the bench 
of justice. No audible sentence is pronounced. No prison 
doors are shut or opened. No sword is uplifted. And 

yet the blow falls, — reaching always the precise centre 
of its object, — the sharper for being invisible; as inflex1- 

bly certain in its movement and its results as the decrees 
of infinite wisdom. 

4. We proceed now to a remark of no small impor- 


202 DIVINE UNION. 


tance. ‘The strictness of the providential law is such, 
that the penalty attending a violation of it will be experi- | 
enced, whether the object which we had in view in our 
coudliagt be good or evil. In other words, God, as the — 
administrator of Providence, will punish us for actions, — 
originating in a good motive, if that motive has been 


exercised without a careful regard to the facts in the ‘f. 


Case. 


If a father, for instance, from the impulse of benevolal i 


parental fing: gives a large amount of property to a 


son, who obviously has no capacity and no heart to 


manage it aright, he violates a providential law, by 


attempting to unite things which are incompatible, and 


the most painful results will sooner or later ensue. Ifa — 


benevolent man has a poor *but very vicious neighbor, — 


and, without any suitable reflections upon the matter, 
bestows upon him liberal donations, he obviously does a 
wrong thing, although he may have meant it right. He 


thus sets himself, perhaps without any specific inten- a 


tions of that nature, in opposition to the providential 
design; and is found in the ruinous situation of one who 
is fighting against God.. God knows what is best. He 
sees that, to the vicious man, who expends his wealth 


upon his lusts, poverty, yea, extreme poverty, is the best 


riches. 

6. It should never be forgotten, that a good motive, 
however kindly and highly it may be appreciated, does 
not constitute a right action in the strict sense of the 


term, unless the action can be spoken of and regarded as 
right in the circumstances actually existing. It is a 


very important principle, therefore, especially in its con-_ 


nection with the higher forms of religious experience, ; Mi 


that we ought with care to watch over even our good 
desires, and to bring them under a strict regulation. Our 


UNION IN PROVIDENCE. 203 


- good desires, our good intentions, will not save ourselves 
_ or others from evil, if we contemplate and carry into 
_ effect objects which are out of the divine order. 


The instances which have already been given, help to 


| illustrate the subject. Very many others will readily 
/ occur. A monarch, for instance, in the largeness of his 
| heart, proposes the immediate and entire liberation of 


his people, notwithstanding they are obviously unpre- 
pared for it. But in thus doing an act, which, under 


| other circumstances, would be highly commendable, he 


only places in the nation’s hand a sword to be plunged 
into its own vitals. His good intentions will not shield 
him from responsibility. Subjecting his benevolence to 
the dictates of deliberation and wisdom, he should have 


_ first made his gift, not to freedom, but to the preparation 


for freedom. 
7. And these remarks will apply, not to one merely, 
but to all the purest and holiest affections of our nature. 


Such affections are always good and: commendable in 


themselves; but, in the manner and degree of their exer- 


cise, they are necessarily subjected to the law of time, 


place, and object. It is certainly commendable and 
right, at all times and under all circumstances, to enter- 
tain feelings of kindness and compassion for those who 


suffer. But it is not commendable and right, at all 
_ times and under all circumstances, to attempt to relieve 
_ that suffering. And the reason ‘is, that God, in his wise 
: providence, has seen fit to impose suffering. Suffering, 


therefore, has its own, its appropriate work todo. And 
mere human pity cannot interfere with these providential 
intentions, without committing great error, and without 
experiencing a retribution on itself. he 

8. We may, perhaps, deduce an illustration of the 


strictness of the law of Providence from the law of 


204 DIVINE UNION. 


| 
nature. We all know that if our action—that of the 
husbandman, for instance — does not conform to the law 
of physical nature, it has no reward, but is the occasion 
of loss. Accordingly, we never exhibit the folly of 
scattering our wheat and corn on the frozen clods of | 


autumn and on the snowbanks of winter, because we 
know that it is entirely useless, and worse than useless, 
to anticipate, as we should thus do, the preparations of 
nature. Whatever we may do, we shall always find, 


if we would do it with any good results, that God must _ 
go first, and strike the first blow. Our business is, both — 
in connection with the works of nature, and in morals 


and religion, to act concurrently, to follow him, and, 


without running before him, to strive to be co-workers — 
with him. It is with this great practical religious prin- — 
ciple in view, that the Saviour says, ‘Give not that — 


which is holy to the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls 
before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, 


and turn again and rend you.” It is this principle, also, — 4 


which is the foundation of the important remark of the 


apostle in his epistle to the Romans, ‘Let not, then, © 


your good be evil spoken of.’’* 


9. We return, therefore, to the great truth, which we if 
wish to be left deeply impressed upon the mind ; namely, A 
that we can neither do good nor evil, irrespective of the _ 
law of Providence, without incurring guilt, and without i" 


experiencing a painful retribution. And this retribution, 


although it may scarcely be noticed at first, and although — 
it may be delayed for a long time, is as certain and irre- — 
sistible, with the single exception of cases of timely — 


repentance, as the existence of God himself. 


Even the man who stands in the divine order, and is — 


a co-worker with God, is not, in the present state of 


* Rom. 14: 16. 


UNION IN PROVIDENCE. 205, 


| things, exempt from trouble. Perhaps it is for this very 
‘thing God has placed him where he is; namely, that 
| sorrow, in its various forms, that rebuke, and evil-speak- 
ing, and loss of earthly goods, and other temporal evils, 
may come upon him, and, in the fire of their consuming 
contact, destroy the dross that still adheres to his soul. 
But standing, as he does, with God before him as his 
guide, and therefore in the way of God’s appointment, 
he will in the end come off victorious. But, for him who 
stands out of the divine order, and who opposes the weak 
shield of human strength to God’s irreversible arrange- 
ments, there is no help. ‘The chariot wheels of the 
Almighty will pass over him and grind him to powder. 
18 


CHAPTER IV. 


OF PROVIDENCE IN CONNECTION WITH MAN’S SITUATION IN LIFE, 


Providence designates our situation in life. —Of the difference in our. 
allotment. — God assigns our place, but leaves to us the dispositions _ 
with which we shall receive it.— The position of Providence our 
true home. — Also the only true place of safety. — Of inward retire- 


ment, or solitude. 


f 


Tat divine superintendence, which is denominated 


Providence, extends not only to every individual, but to 


all that pertains to every individual; including, among 
other things, all the various circumstances and situa-_ 
tions of his life. Without delaying its operation for a 


single day, it indicates man’s locality in the very begin- 
ning of his existence. In combination with the natural 


or physical law, which is its instrument, it places him ing 
the cradle, under the eye of his father and mother. — 
Helpless, but not unprotected, it is the watchful hand of _ 
Providence, using more or less of earthly instrumentality, — 
which feeds him, clothes him, teaches him. It is Provi- ie 


dence, also, as he exchanges childhood for youth, and 


thus gradually enlarges the boundaries of his habitation, : 
which scatters both thorns and flowers in his path;— 
the one to cheer him to activity and duty, and the other 
to warn him of danger, and to deter him from sin. From 


the early locality of the cradle and the parental hearth, 


from the lines drawn around him by the domestic circle _ 


UNION IN PROVIDENCE. 207 


| where he is first placed, he never moves a scep, he never 
“goes, and never can go, rightfully and safely, except by 


divine permission. 
2. It is one of the first principles in the doctrines of 


holiness, that men should remain patiently and quietly 
where God has placed them, until they receive from 


himself the intimations of departure. It was thus that 
Jesus grew up in the humble retirement of a carpenter’s 
family, a brother among brothers and sisters, obeying 


_ his parents in love, eating and drinking at their common 
table, sympathizing in their joys and sorrows, laboring 


daily with those who were brought up in the same form 
of labor, and regarding the yoke of his earthly position 
as entirely light and easy, because it was the yoke of his 
heavenly Father’s providence. He remained there till 


_ that unerring Providence, arranging around him other 
circumstances, and arousing within him desires corre- 
_ sponding to those circumstances, led him forth from the 


quiet home of Mary and Joseph, to the trials and duties 
of a new position, —to persecution and death. How 
different was his conduct from that of the rebellious and 
unhappy youth of whom he has given an account in one 
of his affecting parables! The prodigal son, in the pride 
of self-wisdom and self-will, demanded his share of his 
father’s goods before the time, which was rapidly draw- 
ing nigh, when the arrangements of Providence would 
have freely offered them. As he went forth in viola- 
tion of the providential law, which required him to wait 
till a later period, he went forth without the presence 
and approbation of the God of providence, and found, in 
the famine and wretchedness of a distant land, that sure 
retribution which always follows any Bik ita eek made 
in our own strength and choice. 

3. The first position, then, in which man is placed 


208 DIVINE UNION. 


by Him who overrules all things in goodness, is that of 
dependence and guardianship within the limits of the 
family circle. Gradually the hand of Providence opens 
‘the door, and he goes out; but it is only into another 
department, or, perhaps we should say, into another line 
of demarcation, drawn by One who is invisible. As the 
child advances to youth, and from youth to manhood, 
and as he acquires the wisdom of maturer age and the 
increased strength of virtue, he is invited, ‘untiee the 
guidance of that unseen Power, who proportions our trials” 
to our strength, to different and perhaps more responsible _ 
scenes and duties. The hand, which at first restricted — 
him to his father’s home, and prescribed its limited duties, — 
now points him to a wider sphere of endurance and 
action, as well as of joy and sorrow. Hidden in the vast 
and impenetrable future, no one can tell beforehand what 
that sphere will be. He may be called to labor in the 
field or the workshop, and, with his shepherd’s staff or 
his plough, he may be either the master or the servant. — 
He may be employed as the humble teacher of children 
in the elements of knowledge, or may be constituted a 
lawegiver in the halls of a national legislature. He may 
be the physician of the sick, and eminent in the gifts of 
healing, or he may himself be the inmate of a hospital, 
and be administered to by others, through long years of — 
pain and despondency. ‘To-day he is on a throne, —to- — 
morrow in a prison. } 

A. Men, it is true, are often disposed to quarrel with — 
God’s providential arrangements. And the reason is, 
that the doctrine of providence implies that, in all situa- 
tions, there is a God above and around us. But, how- ; 
ever humbling the doctrine of special preyidaean is to. 
human pride and human reason, the simple and sublime 
fact still remains. God makes us, and God places us 


| UNION IN PROVIDENCE. 209 
| In the language of Scripture, ‘‘ A man’s heart deviseth 
his way ; but the Lord directeth his steps.” The hand of a 
higher power has marked out the lines of our habitation. 
He builds up one, and casts down another. It does not 
depend upon man’s talents, nor upon his education, nor 
jupon his wealth, nor upon his friends, nor upon any- 
_ thing else that is human, what he shall be, or whether, 
,in the worldly sense of the term, he shall be peegte resp 
‘where he shall go, or whether he shall #0) any where ; 
, but upon God alone. 

God makes the arrangement; but the disposition with 
which we shall receive that arrangement, he leaves to 
_ourselves. And let this satisfy us. In every arrange- 
-ment which he makes, his aim is our highest good; but 
whether it will result in our highest good, depends upon 
the spirit in which we accept it. He never violates 
our moral liberty; and if, in the exercise of that liberty, 
we put our thoughts and our feelings in his keeping, he 
will give a heart so correspondent to our habitation, that 
our cottage will be beautiful in our sight as a palace, and 
| the darkness of our dungeon as bright as the open day. 

5. In connection with what has been said, there are 

a number of remarks yet remaining to be made. And 
one is, that the enclosure of Providence, the place of his 
habitation which God has chosen for him, is a man’s 
only true home. 'Vhere is no other; there can be no 

other. Let no sigh arise from his bosom; let no tear 

escape him, because his dwelling place, rough-hewn, 
perhaps, and built upon the rocks, is less beautiful than 
his neighbor’s. Of one it can be said, ‘‘ His lines have 
fallen to him in pleasant places, and he has a goodl:r 
heritage.” Of another it can be said, with equal truth, 
‘ His house is left to him desolate.”’ Nevertheless, if he 
stands within the demarcations of Providence, he occupies 

18* 


en Ame ean | San et mere A Sts 
oe Se an = 


210 DIVINE UNION. 


the place which the highest wisdom could design for him; 


he stands in his own true home, and he has no other. 
6. Another remark is, that the position of Providence 


is the only place of safety. It is not safe for man, in ~ 


violation of God’s arrangements, to move beyond the line 


which God has marked out for him. It is not safe for 


him to have the smallest desire to go beyond it, or even 


to cast a look beyond it. Beyond this high and real — 


barrier, —real though erected by an unseen hand and 


invisible to the outward sight, —there are temporal and, — 
perhaps, spiritual riches, which are not ours, and which — 
we are not allowed to reach after. The wealth which is — 


beyond that line is destined for the possession of others. 


The crown of earthly honors which shines beyond that | 
limit is not destined for our heads. Public religious” 


instructions, no matter how rich and how true, which 
are given by religious teachers beyond that limit, are 
designed for others, and not for us. Even the private 
society of religious persons, however devoted they may 
be, is interdicted when it can be had only in violation 


of the divine limits. We must thus sacrifice the richest 


privileges and gifts, both spiritual and temporal, to the 
arrangements of Providence, in order that we may retain 
and enjoy, what is infinitely more valuable, the God of 
Providence. 


Keep with God in God’s place, and thou shalt not — 


only find inward riches, but inward and outward safety. 
The lines drawn around us by the providential law, 


constitute a “holy city,” a “‘new Jerusalem,’ to those 


who dwell in it in faith, and who take God as their 
everlasting light. To such, contented with their allot- 
ment, whatever may be its temporal aspects, God will 
aever fail to yield his presence and protection. “Only 
nelieve.”’ r 


7, Another remark to be Paddle is Phi In order to_ 


' My 
UNION IN PROVIDENCE. 211 


keep the mind in that spiritual seclusion which is im- 
; ‘plied in being truly united with God, it is not necessary 
‘that we should quit our ordinary duties, and separate 
from our fellow-men. If the solitary places of forests 
and mountains are not interdicted, it is certain that they 
are not absolutely necessary. The man is in the true 
seclusion, the true spiritual retirement, who is shut up 
in the inclosures of Providence, with willingness and joy 
in being so. When we are in harmony with Providence, 
we are in harmony with God; and harmony with God 
implies all that seclusion from the world which is neces- 
sary. ‘This is the true solitude. In its external forms 
it may be more or less. It may restrict us to the limits 
of a sick chamber; it may compress us within the walls 
of a prison; it may lead us for a time to the most retired 
and lonely place of meditation and worship; or it may 
allow us, on the other hand, the widest range of business 
and intercourse, and mingle us with the largest multi- 
tudes of men. But, whether its lines are stricter or 
More expanded, it is the true solitude, the place of retire- 
ment which God has chosen, the select and untrodden 
hermitage where the soul may find and delight itself 
with its Beloved. | 
8. In connection with the general views of this chap- 
ter, and the particular suggestions which naturally arise 
from them, we are reminded of the statements, often 
occurring in experimental writers, that the truly godly 
person is exempt from desire. The meaning is, that 
such a person is exempt from perverted or unholy desire. 
And the form of expression arises from the fact, that his 
desires so perfectly harmonize with the divine arrange- 
ments, and are so perfectly met in the occurrences of 
each moment, that he is hardly conscious of their exist- 
ence. It is the same thing as to be in perfect harmony 
with Providence. | 


8 


CHAPTER V. 


¥ 


ON THE WISDOM AND GOODNESS OF GOD, AS DISPLAYED IN HIS ~ 


¥. 


PROVIDENTIAL ARRANGEMENTS. 


The arrangements of Providence often mysterious. — Their wisdom 
and goodness visible only to the eye of faith. Illustrations of the ~ 
subject. — Reference to the history of Moses. — Illustrations from 


profane history. __ Reference to Bunyan and Milton. — Remarks. — 


Some of the views of the last chapter admit of further 


illustrations. We have seen that the allotments of men 


in the present life, like things in external and material 


nature, are exceedingly diversified. And it must be- 3 
admitted that, to human view, these diversities ate ~ 


oftentimes mysterious. It is not easy for men to see — 
certainly not in all cases —the wisdom of that arrange- 
ment which makes one poor, and another rich; which 


confines one to a particular spot, but enlarges and diver- bi 


sifies the habitation of another; which places one on a | 
throne, another in a dungeon. It should not be for- — 
gotten, however, that it is God who does it all; and, to 
the eye of faith, everything which he does is full of ft 
wisdom and goodness, however it may appear to those i 


who see only with human wisdom. 


2. In one of the retired streets of yonder city there 


lives an honest and laborious mechanic. His daily walk 


is limited by the few rods which separate his house from 
his workshop. Arrived at his place of labor in the morn- — 
ing, he toils from morning till night within the limited — 


UNION IN. PROVIDENCE. 213 


space of a few feet in circumference. From day to day, 
_and from year to year, the muscles of his arm are lifted 
| at the same anvil, or are turning at the same wheel. An 
: unseen hand, which is acquainted with all localities, has 
drawn the lines around him, and planted him there for 
| life. He is a prisoner, if we may so express it, in the 
Lord’s captivity. But it would be a sad mistake, if he 
_ should suppose that this providential arrangement is in- 
stituted without wisdom and without goodness. Though 
he will probably never wander. beyond those narrow 
boundaries, yet that place, of all the places in the uni- 
verse, is the best one for him. We do not say it appears 
best to human wisdom, which is incapable of judging, 
but is best in the view of Him who has assigned it. 
Happy will it be for him if he does not doubt: Believing 
that He who has given him life has constituted his habi- 
tation, let it be his aim to harmonize his feelings with his 
position, and thus the principle of faith, whatever view 
_ the world may take of him, will make him a happy 
| child in his Father’s house. 

3. In early life I was acquainted with a woman, a* 
resident of the village of my youth, whose memory is 
_ recalled by these considerations. In her earlier —I will 
not say her better — days, she held a leading position in 
society, to which she seemed to be well entitled by great 
excellence and intelligence of character, as well.as by 
wealth. In the alternations and reverses of the times, 
her property was entirely lost; her husband died; all 
her near relatives died also, or were scattered abroad, 
and she was left entirely alone. She was supported in 
her old age at the public expense; but, out of respect to 
her character, the town authorities permitted her to oc- 
cupy a single room in the house which she had formerly 
owned. At the time I became acquainted with her, she 


\ 


214 DIVINE UNION. 


was nearly seventy years of age, and had long been 
unable to leave her room without assistance. But she 
was far from supposing that God, in depriving her of 


friends and property, and in confining her in her old age 
‘to these narrow limits, was unkind. Her constant coms 
panions were her Bible and a few old books on practical 
and experimental religion. She had faith. No complaint S| 
escaped from her lips. In the walls of her little room she q 
felt herself far more closely and lovingly encircled by the 
arms of her heavenly Father, than if she had been left — 


in the greatest enlargements of society. A plant in the — 


Lord’s garden, closely hemmed in, but diligently nur- 


tured, she resembled that patriarch, who is described as 


a fruitful bough, whose branches run over the wall.” 

4. The Bible is full of instances and illustrations of 
the subject. The patriarch Moses, in particular, furnishes 
us a lesson in relation to it. Such were the arrange- 
ments of God’s providence, that he found it necessary to 


quit the aspiring hopes which he had once entertained — 


of being the immediate deliverer of his people, and to 
flee from the splendid court of Pharaoh into the deserts 
of Arabia Petreea. For forty years he tended his flocks 
in the vicinity of Mount Sinai, exchanging the palaces 
of Egypt for a rude home in the distant and solitary 


rocks. Undoubtedly it seemed very mysterious to Moses 


that he should thus be dealt with. He did not then 


understand that God, in thus leading him into the wil- 
derness, and making him acquainted with the vast desert 


between the Nile and the Red Sea, was preparing him 
for the dangerous task of being a leader of his people 
through these very deserts and mountains. 


But this was not all. His manners and intellect neal 


been trained in the court of the Pharaohs; but God, 
who is a greater teacher than kings, saw it necessary 


UNION IN PROVIDENCE. 215 
: oo 


that his spirit should be disciplined and trained in the 
wilderness. It was there that he learned, more fully 
- than he had ever understood it before, the lesson of a 
- present and special Providence. Taken from the bul- 


rushes and placed in a palace, and then taken from a_ 
palace and placed for forty years in a lonely desert, he 
felt deeply that God selects and arranges the habitations 
of men; and that it is man’s great business, submitting 
on religious principles to the arrangements of Provi- 
dence, to harmonize his inward state with his outward 
situation. 

And, besides that, he wanted all this time and all this 
solitariness of place, in order to break up his early and 
unfavorable associations, to chasten and subdue his nat- 
ural pride, and to imbibe that wise and gentle quietude 
of spirit which is one of the surest signs of a soul that 
dwells with God. 

5. It was in the prisons of Egypt that Joseph received 
that discipline which fitted him to be the great Egyptian 
ruler. It was when he was tending his father’s flocks 
in Bethlehem, or when he was driven into mountains 
and caverns, that the hand and soul of David were 


‘trained and strengthened to the great task of holding a 
‘nation’s sceptre. Daniel was taught of God in the lion’s 
den; and Paul was aided in learning the great lesson of 
entire dependence, when he could find no escape from 
‘persecution, and perhaps from death, but by being let 
down by a basket over the wall of Damascus. 


_ 6. Profane history, also, as well as the Bible, furnishes 
illustrations of the subject. Along the streets of the city 
of Bedford, in England, the poor and illiterate preacher, 
John Bunyan, is conducted to prison. Years roll on; to 
human appearance all his earthly prospects are cut off; 


he has no books with the single exception of the Bible 


a a 
216 DIVINE UNION. | 


and the Lives of the Martyrs. Had he not been im- 
prisoned, he would have lived and died, as do many 
other men, known perhaps, and useful, within the mits. 
of a single town, and for a single generation. But, 
shut up in prison, and cut off from worldly plans, God | 
was enabled to work in him, in his own wonderful. 
way, and to guide his mind to other and higher issues. | 
It was there he wrote that remarkable work, the Pil- : 
srim’s Progress. Had his enemies not been allowed to — 
prevail against him, it probably would not have been 
written. It was thus that God tumed that which was — 
designed for evil into good. It was a wisdom higher 
than man’s wisdom, which shut up the pilgrim himself 
in prison. ‘The Pilgrim’s Progress, which was the re- 
sult of the imprisonment of the pilgrim whose progress 
it describes, free as the winds of heaven, goes from house 
to house, knocks at every heart, teaches all classes, visits 
all nations. 

7. Nearly at the same time with the pious individual 
to whom we have just referred, there lived in England 
another person, whose extraordinary powers of intellect 
and imagination were developed and cultivated in the — 
best institutions of that country. In the revolutionary 
contests of that period, his pen, exuberant with the 
riches of thought and eloquence, was frequently em- 
ployed with great effect. He became blind. The sun, — 
the pleasant sky, the societies of men, were all shut out | 
from him. ‘These eyes,’ he says in one of the sonnets. 
written in his blindness, ) 


{ 
| 
} 


‘‘ Bereft of light, their seeing have forgot ; 
Nor to their idle orbs doth sight appear 
Of sun, or moon, or stars, throughout the year, 
Or man or woman.”’ 


He was, indeed, in a dark and solitary place; but it 


UNION IN PROVIDENCE. 217 


_ was God, who, in the administration of his providence, 
constructed it for him. And there, in what seemed to 
the world a lonely prison-house, the light of the soul 
grew bright in the darkness of the body; and he wrote 
the Paradise Lost. In the enlargements of his own will, 
when he went where he chose to go, he gave his powers, 
too great to be thus limited, to a party; but, in what may 
be termed the solitude and captivity of God, he gave 
himself to religion and to mankind. 

8. Wisdom can never be separated from providence, 
nor can goodness. And the darker the providence, the 
greater the wisdom. Souls that are formea for great and 
good purposes are so especially the objects of krovidence 
in its most mysterious arrangements, that they may be 
called, with scarcely a metaphorical use of the expres- 
sion, the prisoners of God. For reasons which are 
perfectly known only to himself, they are hedged in by 
him on every side. He does with them what he thinks 
best; and he does not allow them, in the exercise of 
their own wisdom, to think what is best for themselves, 
because he intends to make them the subjects of his 
teachings, as well as the instruments of his own designs. 
The way in which he leads them is not only a narrow 
one, and built up with walls on every side, but is often 
precipitous, and, to human sight, full of dangers. But 
out of that road they find, if they follow the true light, 
they have no liberty to go; and in it they must receive, 
not what they might choose, but what God sees fit to 
give them. He smites them, and he heals them; he 
pours light upon their path, or he leaves them in sudden 
darkness. “They are clay in the hands of the potter.” 
They are. broken to pieces, that out of their earth] y 

fragments he may build up a heavenly habitation. 
He makes them nothing, that they may have divine 
19 


ae Rel a ‘i 
Ss 5. eg 8 
ies, 


218 DIVINE UNION... 


‘strength. He cuts them loose from the creature, that — 
they may be made receptive of the Creator. But in 
everything there is wisdom. Men may not see it; Date 
it is there. | | BA 


THE LIGHT ABOVE US. 


There is a light in yonder skies, 
A light unseen by outward eyes ; — 
But clear and bright to inward sense, 
It shines, the star of Providence. 


The radiance of the central throne, 

It comes from God, and God alone ; — 
The ray that never yet grew pale, 

The star, that “shines within the veil.” 


And faith, unchecked by earthly fears, 
Shall lift its eye, though filled with tears, 
And while around ’tis dark as night, 
Untired, shall mark that heavenly light. 


In vain they smite me, — men but do 
What God permits, with different view ; — 
To outward sight they wield the rod, 

But faith proclaims it all of God. 


Unmoved, then, let me keep my way, 
Supported by that cheering ray, 

Which, shining distant, renders clear 

The clouds and darkness thronging near.* 


*Life of Madame Guyon, vol. ii. p. 317 


CHAPTER VI. 


ON THE RELATION OF PROVIDENCE TO SPIRITUAL GROWTH. 


The arrangements of Providence to the spiritual growth what the earth 
is to natural growth.— The analogy between the two extended to 
particulars. — Importance of remaining quiet under the operations 
of Providence. — Illustrations of the subject. — Remarks. 


WE proceed now to a view of Providence, which 
commends itself to the special consideration of Chris- 
tians. Providence, considered as the divine arrange- 
ment of ‘things in relation to men, is the Lord’s spiritual 
garden. It is to the spiritual growth what the earth 1s 
to the germination and growth of material products. If 
it be true, that the earth is the appointed instrumentality, 
through which and by which the seeds of things grow 
up, it is not the less true, though it may be less obvious, 
that the arrangements of Providence, spread out in the 
wide and variegated surface of things and events, con- 
stitute, in like manner, the instrumentality, the receptive 
and productive medium, in which the seed of the spir- 
itual life is to be planted, to germinate and perfect itself. 
.2. The analogy is not limited tv the productive 
medium. It extends to that which is produced, and 
also to the manner of production. 'The seed, which is 
planted in the earth, is a dead seed. So man’s soul, 
when it is first cast into the soil of God’s providence, is 
a dead seed. They are both alike dead, the material 
seed and the seed of immortality. 


220 DIVINE UNION. 


But neither the ground of nature nor that of provis 


dence, into which they are first received, would of itself _ 4 
alone reproduce them to a new life. To the natural seed, 
when planted in the earth, there must be applied the 


rain and the sunshine before it can be decomposed, — 


incorporated with new elements, and vivified with new 


life and beauty. The earth, operating in connection — 


with these exterior helps, takes off and removes the 
outer coats of the seed, until it reaches the central prin- 
ciple, which had been encrusted and shut out from all 
the benign influences of the sun and atmosphere, and — | 
with its fostering care rears it up from its embryo of 2 
existence to its developed and beautiful perfection. In — 
like manner, when the seed of man’s immortal spirit is 


planted in the midst of God’s providences, it is not till — 
the influences of the Holy Spirit are applied, that it is 
decomposed, if we may so express it, by a separation of 
the good and evil, and the eternal element, deprived of — 
life by reason of sin, is made alive in the spiritual regen- 
eration. 

The analogy in the two cases is a very close one. ‘The 
encircling system of providential arrangements, operating 
in connection with the aiding energy of God’s Spirit, 
removes coat after coat of that selfishness which had 
enveloped and paralyzed every faculty ; and reaching at 
last the central element of the soul, the principle of love, 
which had suffered this dreadfui perversion, it restores it 
to that life, light, and beauty, from which it had wick- 
edly fallen. 

3. But neither the garden of providence nor that of — 
nature can do its work, unless the seed which is planted — 
remain quiet in its position. If the material seed, under 
the pretence that a moister or drier, a richer or poorer, 


soil is better, or for any other reason, is removed from ~ 


UNION IN PROVIDENCE. 221 


place to place, the processes of nature are hindered, and 
-re-production does not take effect. So, if the soul of 


man, when it is planted in the midst of God’s provi- 
dence, does not remain quiet under the divine operation, 
but, before its coats of selfishness can be displaced, 
moves off in its blind and dead life into what it con- 
siders a better soil, it cannot be born into the true and 
living life. ‘The hand of the great Master, operating 
by its prescribed laws, will always perfectly accomplish 
its purpose, if the subject upon which it operates will 


Yemain fixed and steady to the process, but not other- 


wise. 

4, One stroke of God’s providence, perhaps by destroy- 
ing a man’s barn or ship, will remove the coat of inor- 
dinate desire of possession. Another stroke of the same 
providence, perhaps by unfolding some act of human 
treachery, will strike off and destroy the corrupting 
envelope of inordinate desire for human applause. 
Another blow, coming in another direction, by disap- 
pointing and destroying some lofty and cherished 
expectations, will separate and remove from the soul 


the destroying adhesions of a wicked ambition. And 


thus every inordinate propensity and passion may be 
smitten and removed one after another, until the princi- 
ple of love, which had been enchained by the tyranny 


of lust, disenthralled from this heavy oppression, returns 
at last, and finds its centre in God. 


5. Stay, therefore, son of man, under the process of 
the divine excision. Remain in the union of time and 
place, however painful it may be, until God shall bring 
thee into the union of disposition. If he smites thee, it 
is only that he may heal. If the dead limb is cut off, it 
is only that a new one may be grafted in. If, like the 
seed in the earth, thy spirit must be planted in the dark- 

19% 


i) Se awe iN ont 


ness of the burial place, it will find an angel in the toml 
who will burst its prison house. If thou must b 
brought down, and crucified, and perish in the de 
Adam, it is only that thou mayst be re-produced, a 
elon and made oe in the living Jesus. 


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| ON THE LAW OF PROVIDENCE IN RELATION TO SIMPLICITY 


OF SPIRIT. 


CHAPTER. VII. 


| Explanations of simplicity of spirit. — Exists in connection with a dis- 


| position to harmonize with Providence. Illustrations of the subject.— 


- The man who is simple in spirit is a child. 


THERE is a state of mind which is properly expressed 
by the phrase simpiiciry or spirit. It is a state of mind 


simplified ;— that is to say, a state which is prompted 


in its views and actions by the simple or single motive 
of God’s will, instead of being led in various directions 
and muitiplied, as it were, by worldly motives, such as 
pride, pleasure, anger, honor, riches and the like. Being 
one in its controlling element, having its thought, its 
feeling, and its action subjected to the domination of a 
single principle, it cannot be multiplied. Like the law 
of gravitation in the natural world, it is not only one 
and undivided in itself, but always tends to one and the 
Same centre. 

2. Such simplicity is aided, in being carried into 
action, by the providential law. The multiplied man is 
full of worldly schemes. The simple man, being in 
harmony with God’s will, forms no plans and enters 
upon no schemes, except such as are suggested by God’s 
providences. And the consequence is, that he ceases 
from all those anxious forecastings and calculations, 
which result from a worldly spirit. As he receives what 
God now gives, and does not wish to receive anything 


224 DIVINE UNION. 


else; so he does what God now requires him to do, with- 
out wishing todo otherwise. Every day, made up of its 
various incidents and events, constitutes a map, on which | 
Providence has drawn the path which he is to pursue. — 


As each coming hour unrolls this map before his eye of — 
faith, and before his heart of love, he promptly takes 


his position, step by step, without knowing at each 


moment where he shall be, and what he shall do, in the 


next moment. ie 


3. It is obvious, therefore, that it is not possible for 


him to lay down future plans, or to, make any such — 
calculations, to be carried into effect at a future time, as _ 


have a fixed and absolute character. So far as he: | 


exercises what may be termed a prudent foresight, and 


forms plans of future action, it is always done in sub-— 


jection to the developments of Providence. 


The worldly man, in the independence of a worldly 
spirit, says he will do this or that, whatever it may be, | 
which is most pleasing to him. He will go to some — 
distant city, to Jerusalem, to Athens, to Rome, to Lon- | 
don, and bring many things to pass. But the man who | 


is possessed of a holy simplicity of spirit, true to the 
inscrutable law of Providence, is like a little child. 
Without excluding a prudential foresight, which. is 
always conditional in its applications, he says, I will go 
to the designated place, if the Lord wills ; or 1 will do 


eee 


this or that, if the Lord wills. And it cannot be doubted, — 
if this condition of action is not always expressed, it is s 


at least always implied. 


_ 4, Whatever general plans he forms, (and it ought to 
be added, in passing, that he is always deliberate and_ 
‘cautious in making such plans,) they are all subordinate 


to the suggestions and orders of the great providential | 


Power. He may be said, therefore, to be a man moved 
at 


UNION IN PROVIDENCE. 220 


as he is moved upon ;—not so much a man without 
) motion, as one whose motion or action evolves itself in 
‘connection with a: higher motion. His action, spon- 


‘taneous and morally responsible, is nevertheless consent- 


‘ingly and harmoniously regulated by a higher arrange- 
‘ment, antecedently made. Providence is not a thing 


accidental, but eternal. ‘The events which are involved 
‘in it are letters, which describe the Everlasting Will. 
The holy man’s will, therefore, operating by its own law 
of action, and secured in the possession of a just moral 
freedom, moves in the superintendence and harmony of 
a higher, better, and unchangeable will. 


To him the world, in all its movements, is full of 


God. It isa great ocean, never at rest, flowing in differ- 
ent directions, though always at unity with itself. And 


as each drop of the natural ocean, without ceasing to be 
a drop, flows on asa part of and in harmony with the 


great billows, so is he, freely leaving his will to the 
impulse of a higher will, moved on in harmony with the 


great sea of Providence. 

5. Such an union with Providence not only requires 
simplicity of spirit, but it may be said to make a man 
simple. He thinks, as some ancient writer expresses it, 
“without thinking;’’ that is to say, his thoughts, taken 
out of the order of his once selfish nature, are suggested 
by and fall in with the providential order; and they do 
it so easily and so beautifully, like the thoughts of angel 
natures, that another power seems to think in them and 
to give them life. He thinks without the labor of think- 
ing, because his thoughts are given to him. © 

He feels, as the same writer expresses it, “‘ without 
feeling.” 'That is to say, he feels without making a 
special effort to feel, and without having his thoughts 
particularly directed to his feelings. 'They arise spon- 
taneously in connection with actions and events. 


226 DIVINE UNION. 


If his spirit has become one with God’s spirit, then all. 
he has to do is to feel as God feels ;—- which he does by 
a natural sympathy rather than by a constrained volun- 
tary effort. And so true is this, that God, operating by 
the gentle attractions, and by the ebbing and flowing of 
divine love, almost seems to take his place, and to feel 
for him. oa 

He wills, it is further remarked by the writer just now 
referred to, “without willing.’ That is to say, his will, 


freed from selfish impulses, and from the power of ante- — 
cedent habits, operates so harmoniously with the Univer- | 


| 
: 


sal Will, that the two wills, not physically, but morally, 


are made one. And he wills as if another willed in his 


stead. 


} 
i 
FR 
e) 
I 
1 
1 

( 


6. And is not a man who thus thinks without thinking, | 


feels without feeling, and wills without willing, by the 


loss of his own thoughts, feelings, and volitions, in the — 
thoughts, affections, and purposes of God, —is not such _ 
a man truly characterized by simplicity of spirit? Itis_ 


sometimes said of the truly renovated and sanctified man, 


that he has become a child. And it may well be asked, — 


“who is or can be more a child than the man we have 
just described? ‘The child thinks as his father thinks, 


feels as his father feels, wills as his father wills. And 


it is this, much more than his physical likeness, which — 


makes him the ¢rue child. He is sometimes taunted 


with that which constitutes his ¢rwe honor, namely, that 
he dares not think for himself, nor feel nor will for him-- 


self, but that he is just as his father is. 'The child of 


God, also, is just as his Father is. It is this, more than — 
anything else, which makes him the ¢rue child. And _ 


as the Father establishes, or makes Providence, the child 


harmonizes with Providence; and it is much the same 


thing to say, that he is the child of Providence, and — 
to say that he is the child of God. In either case, he — 


| 


UNION IN PROVIDENCE. 227 


. is a child, and achild is simpLe; that is to say, he has 


that simplicity of spirit, which makes him think, feel, 


| and will, as another thinks, feels, and wills. In his 
simplicity, not knowing which way to direct his steps, 
_he goes as he is led. God leads him. From the hand 


of God’s providence he receives his daily food. The 


same Providence which leads him, feeds him. All things 


and all events are his teachers, because God is in them. 


He geuieves, and God takes care of him. 


CHAPTER VIII. 


OF THE UNION OF GOD AND MAN IN PROVIDENCE. 


Union with Providence is union with God. — The unsanctified or sin- 
ful man at variance with both. — Union with God in Providence implies _ 


union with God in outward nature. — Illustrations of this view.— 


On turning from God. — Remarks. 


Ir will be seen, on a little examination, that the 
result of these views in relation to Providence must be, 


| 


that harmony with Providence is union with God. As | 
the law of Providence is only another expression for God’s 


will, as that will is exhibited in connection with his 


providences, the man who lives in conformity with : 


Providence necessarily lives in conformity with God. 


2. This certainly cannot be said of the natural or 
unholy man. It is impossible that it should be. Living ~ 
in the breath and heat of his own desires, in his own ‘will - 
and out of God’s will, he is not more discordant with 
Providence, than with the Author of Providence. ‘There — 
is a perpetual conflict. Full of his own objects and — 
purposes, he desires health, but God sends sickness; he — 


desires riches, but God sends poverty; he desires ease, 
but God imposes activity and labor; he desires honor, 


but God sends degradation. Or, if God sends the objects _ 
of his desire, giving him health, wealth, and honor, he x 
still complains of the way in which they are sent; or if | 
he is satisfied with the way in which they are sent, he is 
not satisfied with the degrees. ‘There will always be- 
found a divergency, a want of harmony somewhere. It — 


is impossible that they should walk together. 


UNION IN PROVIDENCE. ° 229 


3. It is very different with the truly holy man, to 
whom God’s providences are dear. In conforming to 


the law of Providence, he obeys the law which secures 
efficacy and application to every other law. ‘The law 


of God, for instance, requires us to reprove sin in our 
neighbor; but unless we are guided in doing it by the 
providential law, we shall be likely to do more evil than 
good. If we reprove him without regard to time and 
place,—if we take an occasion to do it which will 
unnecessarily expose him to contempt and injury from 
others, while he is made the subject of our own reprehen- 
sions, — we shall obviously fail of our object. 

The law of God requires us to do good, by speaking 
to impenitent persons on the subject of religion. But 
this requisition must be carried into effect, in connection 


with the law of Providence; in accordance with the~ 


appropriateness of time, place, the presence or absence 
of friends, and all other circumstances which are natu- 
rally or necessarily involved. 

The law of God requires us to be benevolent; but 
benevolence, without regard to the adjustments and 


claims of Providence, is not benevolence, but prodi- 
-gality; in other words, it is unbelieving and unaccepta- 


ble wastefulness. We are to consult God’s will in the 


manner of giving, as much as in the fact of giving. His 
written, law requires the fact; —his providential law 


indicates the manner. A failure in the latter, if it is 


‘intentional, vitiates and annuls the obedience of the 


former. 

The law of God requires us to be submissive and 
acquiescent under those afflictions which from time to 
time come upon us. But submission to afflictions, with- 


out recognizing God’s providential foresight and arrange- _ 


ments in sending them, is mere acquiescence in unavoida- 
20 3 


230 DIVINE UNION. 


& i 
ble events, and not acquiescence in God’s wise and just | 
agency ; it is the submission of a brute animal, and not 
the submission of a Christian. We | 

A. Itis hardly necessary to say anything in addition _ 
to what has already been intimated in various places, to 
show the importance of keeping steady to the line of 1g 
Providence. It is when we are in this position, and 2 | 
only when we are in this position, that we may be said 
to walk with God; and walking with God is union with 
God. | | 
5. Providence, expansive as the agency of the Divine 
Mind, includes things as well as events, material nature _ 
as well as human action. To be in harmony, there- — 
fore, with God’s Providence, we must be in harmony | 
with everything ;—not excepting the material world. | 
It is true, that things inanimate have no life in them- 
selves: but they are the residence of a living mind. 
We might almost say, in a mitigated sense of the terms, 
that every thing, not excluding objects the most remote it 
from moral intelligence, becomes God to us. There is | 
no grass, no flower, no tree, no insect, no creeping thing, 
no singing bird, nothing which does not bring God 
with it, and in such a manner that the thing which 
we behold becomes a clear and bright revelation of that — 
which is invisible. | 

6. We go, for instance, into a garden and pluck a ‘| 
flower; and, as we permit our eye to wander over it, 
and to behold the various elements of its graceful 
beauty, we not only see the flower, but the eye of faith, 
making a telescope of the bodily eye, and reading the 
invisible in the visible, sees, also, the God of the flower. — 
Often has the devout Christian, in all ages of the world, — 
used expressions, which indicate the fact of this divine dq 
perception. ‘The God, whom I love,” he says, “shines — 


UNION IN PROVIDENCE. 23), 


- upon me from these blooming leaves.”” And the expres- 
“sions he uses convey a great truth to him, however they 
may fail to convey it to others. That flower is God’s 
development. It is not only God present indirectly by 
amaterial token, by a mere manifested sign, while the 
reality of the thing signified is absent; but it is God 
| present as a being, living, perceptive, and operative. 

We do not mean to say, that God and the flower are 
identical. Far fromit. But what we do mean to say, 
is, —that the life of God lives and operates in the life 

of the flower. It is not enough to say, as we contem- 
plate the flower, that God created it; —jimplying, in the 
remark, that, having created it, he then cast it upon the 
bosom of the earth to live or die, as a thing friendless 
and uncared for. This is the low view which unbelief 
takes. 'The vision of faith sees much further than this. 

God is still in it ; — not virtually, but really ; not merely 
by signs, but as the thing signified. God is the “ God 
of the living.’ And while the flower lives, he, who 
made it, is still its vital principle just as much as when 
his unseen hand propelled it from its stalk; not only the 
author, but the support of its life, the present and not 
the absent source of its beauty and fragrance, still 
delighting in it as an object of his skill and care. 

The sanctified mind realizes this in a new and higher 
“sense;—so much so that the truly holy man enjoys 
especial intercourse with God, and enters into a close 
and divine unity with him, when he walks amid the 
various works which nature, or rather the God of nature, 
constantly presents to his view. 

7. But this is not all. In a similar sense every 
event which takes place in God’s providential govern- 
ment may be said to be God to us ;—that is to say, 
not merely to remind us of God as coldly beholding the 
event at a distance, but to bring God with it, and to 


232 DIVINE UNION. 


manifest him in a very especial manner. I am aware 
that it is a common saying, and one which is generally 
assented to, that God is present in all events. The man 
of the world will assert this ;— the disbelievers in the — 
Bible will sometimes assert it. But it is hardly neces- — 
sary to say, that they have not the faith which enables a 
them to realize that which they assert. The mere dec- — 
laration of his presence is a very different thing from a — 
practical conviction, a realizing sense, of his presence. 7 
If God, in the events of his Sramathe afflicts me with — 
sickness, or if he permits my neighbor to defame me, — 
God, it is true, is not the sickness, and is not the defama- oS 
tion; but he is zz the sickness and zz the defamation, in x 
Sole a sense that we are to think of him and receive 4g 
him as a present God, and present probably for the spe-— 
cific purpose of trying our faith and patience. The 
event, painful as it is, and criminal as it is under some — 
circumstances, is nevertheless a manifestation of God ; 
and not of a God absent, but of a God present. And 
happy is the man that can receive this. : 
8. In connection with this interesting subject, one 
thought more remains to be considered. What is it fo 
turn from God? In the earlier stages of experience, 
we are apt (and perhaps it is difficult to do otherwise) 
to assign to God a form and locality. The term from, — 
in its original meaning, involves the idea of place; and — 
regarding God as having form and locality, we easily — 
adjust the expression to our conceptions, and speak 
with a degree of propriety, relatively to our view of things, 
of turning our thoughts and feelings from God. But 
when, in a more advanced state of experience, the idea of i 
a i6a God expands itself into the idea of God “ awn- oy 
eal”. and infinite, not only associating himself wath all” 
things as an attendant, but existing im all things as a liv- 
ing spirit; — what is meant by turning from God then?» 


aS 


} 
I 


UNION IN PROVIDENCE. 238 


___In the experience of a truly sanctified mind, to turn 
from God, in one important sense at least, is to be out 
of harmony with his providences. For God, in being 


expanded, as it were, from the local and the finite to the 
un-local and infinite, can be found, as a God developing 
himself within the sphere of human knowledge, only in 


those things, acts and events, which constitute provi- 
_dences. ‘To be out of harmony with these things, acts, 


and events, which God in his providence has seen fit to 
array around us, — that is to say, not to meet them in a 


| humble, believing, and thankful spirit, —is to turn from 


God. And, on the other hand, to see in them the devel- 
opments of God’s presence, and of the divine will, and to 


‘accept that will with all the appropriate dispositions, is to 


turn in the opposite direction, and to be in union with him. 
9. The man who is thus united with God in his 


| providences, not only sees God in everything else, but 


he has God in himself. His soul is the “‘ temple of the 
Holy Ghost.”’ The God inward, or perhaps we should 
say the purified soul in the likeness of God, corresponds 


| to the God outward. God manifests himself in his 
| providences, sometimes in sending joy and sometimes 
in sending sorrow ;— and the life of Jesus in the heart, 


the God in miniature, if we may so express it, corre- 


_ sponds, with entire facility and perfection of movement, 


to the God that is manifested in the events and things 


| around. And thus it is easy to understand, looking at 


the subject in these various points of view, and especially 
when we consider that God in his providences is the 
exact counterpart of God reéstablished in the sanctified 
human heart, how man may be said, in the language of 
Scripture, “to walk’? with his Maker, and that harmony 
with Providence is union with the Divinity. 

— 20* 


CHAPTER IX. 


RELATION OF THE LAW OF PROVIDENCE TO THE ORDER AND _ | 


DISORDER WHICH EXIST IN THE WORLD. 


Results, if the law of Providence were universally fulfilled. —AN 
would be satisfied with their situation. — There would be universal — ; 


peace. — Remarks on the present state of things. 


a / 


.| 
, 


Various are'the topics which this great subject sug 


gests. One has relation to the restoration of peace on — : 


the earth. 


If the law of Providence were strictly fulfilled, it is 
obvious that order would at once exist throughout the — 
world. The reign of harmony, which poets have dreamed — 
and prophets have predicted, would from that moment — 


commence. Every man would not only be in his place, 
but, what is more, he would be contented with his 


place. It would not be the order of tyranny, but the 
‘order of benevolent wisdom. It would not be the har-— 
mony of force, but the harmony resulting from a com- | 


mon faith in a common Father. 


9. The first development, under the strict fulfilment 
of the law of Providence, would be order and harmony 
of position. And this would be attended with harmony 
of feeling. As each one would be in his place, so each 
would be satisfied with his place, without being more> 
satisfied with his own place than with that of his neighbor. | 


In looking at the great frame-work of society, all would 
recognize the necessity of the parts to the completion | 
and symmetry of the whole. As each would have his 


i tare 


UNION IN PROVIDENCE. 235 


| place, with no rebellion of the foot against the hand, 
“nor of the hand against the head; so there would be no 
feelings of distrust and envy. How could there be 
rivalries, how could there be distrust or envy, when 
‘each, in being contented with the divine arrangements, 


would of course be satisfied with that position which 


| those arrangements had assigned him? The fact of the 


divine choice, especially when taken in connection with 
the imperfections of human wisdom, would far more 
than counterbalance all incidental evils; so much so, 
that want and suffering, attended with God’s choice and 
favor, would be regarded as infinitely preferable to riches 


_ and pleasure without them. 


3. The cessation of personal and social rivalries would 
involve that of nations; or, at least, the same divine 


law, which operated to secure the one, would not fail to 


bring about the other. Persons and neighborhoods would 
be at peace. Nations would be at peace also. ‘T’here is 
a locality, a rank, a duty of nations, as well as of indi- 


viduals. If each would take the position, and fulfil the 


duty, which the law of Providence indicates to them, 


national rivalries would cease, because the occasions of 


such rivalries would no longer exist; and the God of the 
individual man, and of the domestic hearth, and of 
social institutions and unions, would be the God of 
empires. The law of Providence, harmonizing the rela 


‘tions of states, as it does those of individuals and small 
‘communities, would constitute a family of nations, and 
war would be known no longer. 


we? On the other hand, there cannot be discordance 
between man’s moral nature and God’s providence, 
without great contention and disorder in the world. And 
in point of fact, the world is in the greatest confusion 
ar strife, because the ordainment of God is not corre- 


236 DIVINE UNION. 


sponded to by the wishes of the creature. With scarce- | 
ly an exception, there is something left of that life of 
nature which produces divergence and conflict. Every 
one has his choice. ‘To be a merchant, a prince, a com-_ 
mander of armies, a man of pleasure, a man of science, | 
a mechanic, a farmer, a soldier, a teacher of youth, — 
such are some of the preferences they evince. The object 
at which they aim is not always, and perhaps not gen- — 
erally, wrong. ‘The fault consists in unwillingness to. 
harmonize with the decisions of a higher power. All 
wish to decide for themselves; all estimate the good or 
the evil on the small scale of their own personality and 
interests; all have their choice. Who among them, in 
the mournful degeneracy of our fallen race, wishes to 
follow, or thinks beforehand of following, che choice of 
Providence ? | 

The world is a map of situations, inscribed with lines 
of demarcation, diversified everywhere with discrimina- 
tive colors, which indicate opportunity, adaptation, want, | 
fulfilment, duty. In one place the poor are to be aided ; 
in another place the ignorant are to be instructed ; in 
another the sick are to be consoled and watched over. 
In one place is the demarcation of endurance; in another 
is the arena of action; in another is the platform of authori- — 
ty and eloquence. But who, in beholding any one of 
these various demarcations and the duties it suggests, 
goes to God and asks: —Am I the man whom eternal 
wisdom has selected for this mission? Resigning my 
own will, I lay myself upon the altar of sacrifice, — 
not to be what I might choose to be, but to be what God 
may choose to have me to be.- Send me, if thou wilt ;— 
but let me not go, or have a thought of going, without 
thine own authority. 

5. There are exceptions, it is true, but not enough te — 


UNION IN PROVIDENCE. aot 


reverse, or to modify essentially the assertion, that man 
is at war with Providence. ‘ All seek their own,” says 

the apostle, “not the things which are Jesus Christ’s.” | 
In this state of things it is obviously impossible that 
there should be peace or happiness. ‘The divine har- 
mony is broken. Man, in being by his selfishness 
antagonistical to God and God’s arrangements, is neces- 
sarily antagonistical to his neighbor. Place is at war 
with place, and feeling with feeling. Judgment is arrayed 
against judgment, because false and conflicting judg- 
ments necessarily grow out of the soil of perverted 


affections. On every side are the outcries of passion, the 


competitions of interest, and the crush of broken hearts. 

6. Shall it always be so? ‘The remedy, and the only 
remedy, is an adherence to the law of Providence. 
Renounce man’s wisdom, and seek that of God. Sub- 
ject the human to the divine. Harmonize the imper- 


fect thoughts and purposes of the creature with the wis- 


dom of the Eternal Will. Let the clamors of nature 
cease, that the still small voice of the Godhead may 
speak in the soul. Go where God may lead thee. 

When this shall be the general disposition, when all 
shall cease to seek their own, and shall begin to seek the 
things which are Christ’s, when man’s life shall be 
again engrafted on the Universal Life, then will the 
Law of Providence universally take effect, and God will 


- reign among men. 


CHAPTER X. 


ILLUSTRATIONS OF INTERIOR OR SPIRITUAL SOLITUDE. 


| 


“Therefore, behold I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, — 


[that is, into the solitary place,] and speak comfortably unto her.” 
— Hosea 2: 14, 


To be alone with God, which implies being in soli- : 


tude from the world, is indescribably pleasing to the 
devout mind. And in order to realize an idea, which 
carries with it so.much attraction, it is not surprising, 
that many pious persons have, in all ages of the world, 
secluded themselves from society. In plucking the roses 
of the world, they have been pierced with the thorn; 
and in the depth of their sorrow they have sought to 
avoid that, which, under the appearance of good, con- 
ceals so much evil. 'Their designs have been right, but 
their methods have not always been successful. 

We have briefly alluded to this subject in the eonclud- 
ing remarks of the chapter which considers Providence 


in connection with man’s situation in life. We propose 


to make a few further remarks upon it here. 

2. In order to have correct ideas on the subject before 
us, we may properly remark, in the first place, that inte- 
rior or spiritual solitude is not to be confounded with 
physical or personal solitude. It is something more, and 


something higher, than mere seclusion of the body in 


some hidden or remote place. 


In the accounts of those, who, in the early periods’ of 


Christianity, retired into solitary places; with the object 


UNION IN PROVIDENCE. 239 


of perfecting their inward state in desolate caverns, in 
forests, and in the seclusions of monasteries, we find 
frequent mention of unexpected and heavy temptations. 
Often did the world, in the shape of evil desires and vain 
imaginations, follow them to their lonely retreats. It is 
related of St. Jerome, whose devout writings still edify 
' the church, that, in the ardor of his young piety, he 
thought he could successfully escape the temptations of 
luxurious cities, and perfect his inward experience, by 
dwelling alone in the solitary deserts of Syria. In the 
midst of those vast plains, scorched by the burning 
sun, he sat down alone, emaciated, disfigured, with no 
companion but wild beasts. Strong were his resolu- 
tions; great were his sufferings; many were the peni- 
tential tears which he shed ;— but, in the midst of this 
desolation and of these flowing tears, he informs us that 
his busy imagination placed before him the luxuries of 
Rome and the attractions of her thoughtless voluptua- 
ries, and renewed the mental tortures which he hoped 
he had escaped.* 

To be secluded, therefore, in body is not enough. ‘To 
be alone in caves and in forests is not necessarily to be 
alone with God. 

3. Nor is this all. We may properly remark, furtHer, 
that true spiritual solitude, which always implies the 
special operations of divine grace, is not merely mental 
solitude. It is not the solitude, even when added to that 
of the body, of a merely disappointed and impenitent 
mind; of the mind as it now is. 

The mind may become so intensely selfish that even 
the world cannot supply its wants. How many persons, 
the victims of intense avarice, of burning sensuality, of 
overleaping ambition, have renounced and cursed the 


* See Pantheon Litteraire. CEuvres de St. Jerome. 


240 DIVINE UNION. 


“world, because even the world, with all its adaptedness — 
to their desires, could not give all that they asked! Men — 


of wealth, voluptuaries, statesmen, warriors, kings, worn 
out with indulgence, or disappointed in their boundless 
aspirations, have separated themselves from society, 
when probably it did not occur to them ¢o separate from 
themselves. In forests and in dens of the earth, and 
wherever they could flee away, and shut themselves up 
alone, they have poured forth, not their prayers to God, 
but their misanthropy and hate against man. In leav- 
ing the world behind them, they have carried in their 
hearts that which gave the world its evil and its sin. 

4. 'T'rue spiritual solitude, in being something more 
than solitude of the body, and something more than 
solitude of the unholy mind, is solitude from that in the 
mind, whatever it may be, which tends to disunite and 
dissociate it from God. 

The soul, in the state of interior solitude, is in a state 
of solitude or separation from two things, in particular, 


namely, from its own desires and its own thoughts. It 


IS SEPARATE FROM ITS OWN DESIRES. Sick of the world, 


if thou wouldst erect an inward oratory, and enter into — 
the secret place of the heart, then let it be thy first pur- — 


pose, as it certainly is an indispensable one, to cease 


from all desire, except such as God himself animates. © 
In order to control the desires, and bring them into sub- — 
jection to God, it is necessary to control the senses. — 


The desires must have their appropriate objects; and in 
a multitude of cases the objects are made known by the 
senses. Keep a close watch, therefore, upon the senses. 
Let not your eye rest upon anything which is forbidden. 
Let not your ear listen to any corrupting or unprofitable 
conversation ; but be as one who has no sight, and no hear- 
ing, and no touch, and no taste for anything, except 


UNION IN PROVIDENCE. 2A1L 


what God allows and is pleased with. Contend with 
all, because all have gone astray. Crucify all, because 
all have crucified him, who is the Eternal Life. Sepa- 
rate from all, so far as they have separated from God ; 
in order that being united with them in their truth, you 
may be united with the God of truth. 

5. The soul, ina state of spiritual solitude, is na 
state of solitude or separation, also, from its own thoughts. 
By its own thoughts are meant thoughts which are se//- 
originated, and have selfish ends. When all such 
thoughts, as well as all desires which are not from God, 
are extinct, the inward solitude is greatly increased. 

Let it be remembered that the state of spiritual soli- 
tude does not exclude aid thoughts from the mind; but 
only those which are i¢s own, which are self-originated, 
and which tend, therefore, to dissociate it from God. 
Accordingly, it does not exclude those thoughts, to what- 
ever subjects they may relate, of which God may 
properly be regarded as the author. And it is proper to 
say here, in order to determine what thoughts are from 
God and what are not, that thoughts which are from 
God are characterized by this mark, in particular, that 
they always harmonize with the arrangements of his 
providence. Thoughts, which arise from the instiga- 
tions of self, and not from a divine movement, are not 
in harmony with what God in his providential arrange- 
ments would desire and choose to suggest; but, on the 
contrary, they busy themselves with recollections and 
images of persons, things, and plans, which are wholly 
inconsistent with such arrangements. All conceptions 
of persons, things, and situations, all imaginations, all 
thoughts, and all reasonings, which, in coming in our 
own will, are out of harmony with the existing provi- 
dential arrangements, are not only not from God, but 

ee ek 


242 DIVINE UNION. 


they constitute so many disturbing influences, which 
separate God from the soul. The evil is inexpressibly 
sreat. In the truly holy soul, which, after many tempta- 
tions and hesitancies, is fully established in the way of 
holiness, thoughts so discordant and out of place are 
not permitted to enter. It stands apart, if one may so 
express it, constituting an unoccupied space, a closet shut 
up, a still and sacred seclusion, unapproachable to every- 
thing which comes unbidden by its great Master. 

6. Again, the true solitude of spirit, in the full import 
of the terms, may be regarded as including, to some 
extent at least, a cessation or solitude from words. If 
speech is a blessing when it is under the regulation of 
holy principles, it is a source of great and almost unmiti- 
gated evil when it proceeds from unsanctified passions. 
And when we consider how closely and extensively it is 
cownected with such passions, we have good reason, at 
least in a multitude of cases, for regarding silence as a 
sign of moderation, truth, and peace. ‘To say nothing 
but what is appropriate, to say nothing but what Christ 
would say, bearing reproaches without reply, and utter- 
ing the truth in love, is a virtue, which is a product of 
the Holy Ghost, and which belongs to him only who 
has been taught of God. The speech of him who is 
the subject of spiritual solitude, like everything else that 
comes within the reach’ of moral obligation, is under the 
restrictions of a divine law; and he can no more speak 
without God to guidehim in his utterance, than he can 
do anything else without God. In being silent, with 
the exception of those occasions in which the providence 
of God calls him to speak, he has sundered one of the 
strong links, which would otherwise have bound him to 
what is vain, frivolous, and wicked in the world. 

7. It may be added here, that solitude from words is 


UNION IN PROVIDENCE. 243 


not solitude from communication. The soul that, in 
consequence of its sanctification, does not speak out- 
ward to things that are temporal, speaks inward to 
things that are eternal. And in proportion as it ceases 
from those communications with men which God does 
not call for and does not authorize, it increases its com- 
munications with God himself. 

8 And these last remarks indicate the true result of 
spiritual solitude, when it is rightly understood and 
experienced. ‘The soul is not left alone with dself, — 
which would be much the same as to say, that it is left 
alone with Satan, —but is left alone with God, who is 
Eternal Life. Separation, in its spiritual application, is 
not only seclusion, but ¢ransition. eparation from the 
world, when predicated of a being to whom absolute 
separation is an impossibility, is transition to God; and. 
he who is not of the world, is of God; alone and in 
unison at the same time; in solitude from that which Is 
evil, but in union with that which is good. He has hid- 
den himself, not in the dark and weak enclosure which ' 
selfishness furnishes to those who do not believe, but in 
the strong fortress of the Infinite. He is not only with 
God, but iz him; not only in harmony of action, but in 
the sacred enclosure of his being:—so that God: may 
be said, in the language of Scripture, to “ compass hinr 
round about.’ No noise of unholy thoughts, no sug- 
gestions of unhallowed reason, no clamors of unsatisfied 
desire, no confusion of the tongues of men, nothing that 
is hurtful, nothing that 1s unprofitable, reaches him. 
“ Agthe mountains are round about Jerusalei, so the 
Lord is round about his people.” Ps. 125: 2. 


WG Tae aR xX 1. 


A TRUE CONFORMITY WITH PROVIDENCE IMPLIES THE NAT- 
URAL OPERATIONS OF AN INWARD LIFE, AND NOT MERELY 
THE INSTIGATIONS OR COMPULSIONS OF CONSCIENCE. 


Of the central life. — Definition of it.— Use of terms in conformity with 
the definition. — Of the life of God. — Reference to the statements in 
former chapters. — Of the life of God in the soul of man. — Passages 
of Scripture.— A true harmony with Providence is the harmony of 
love and choice, and not of compulsion. — Of law in connexion with life. 


In endeavoring to explain the union of the soul with 
God, in providence, we have repeatedly, either specifi- 
cally or by implication, spoken of it asa duty. It isa 
thing required by conscience. ‘The common forms of 
language, which recognize the sentiment of duty much 
more fully than they do a principle of holy life operat- 
ing by its own nature, seemed to require these methods 
of expression. We think it proper to add here, however, 
in order to prevent misapprehensions, that union with 
God, in any case, on the ground of compulsion of con- 
science alone, does not meet and fulfil that higher view 
of union, which we have endeavored to explain, and 
which all Christians should aim to realize. It is very 
true, that the facts and the law of Providence constitute 
what may properly be called the soul's home ; — both 
the place of its residence, and the place and condition of 
‘its action. _But that home is to be entered and occupied 
by a soul which has the instinct of adaptation, the beau- 
tiful life of harmony in itself; and not by one, which is 


UNION IN PROVIDENCE. 245 


harmonized with its position by the regulative power of 
an exterior compulsion. And as we are desirous, with 
the grace of God, of doing a little towards restoring 
and clearing up the doctrine, not merely of conversion 
to God, but of life in God, which is the appropriate and 
true result of the incipient step involved in conversion, 
we propose here to give a few further explanations in 
regard to this central life. 

2. It is hardly necessary to say, that we are now 
speaking, not of vegetable or animal life, but of life as 
it exists in moral beings, — the sowl’s life. And, accord- 
ingly, life in moral beings is that central moving princi- 
ple, which brings such beings into action, and which 
gives a direction to their action. 

This definition corresponds with the views which 
men commonly take of human actions, and with the 
language which they frequently employ. Of the avari- 
cious man, for instance, how often is it said, that his 
love of money is his life! Of the ambitious man, also, 
who toils night and day for his beloved object, we fre- 
quently say, and we say it with as much truth as fre- 
quency, that his love of power is his life. In each of 
these cases, and in every other modification of our fallen 
and selfish nature, there is always some elementary, 
but controlling desire, which is the inspiration of move- 
ment, the hidden impulse of activity. And it is also 
true, that we use the same language in cases which are 
very different from these. We see, for instance, a hum- 
ble and devoted Christian, who prays much, and reads 
his Bible much, and is continually doing good ; — and 
how natural it is to say of such an one, that religion is 
his life! A life of some kind, an elementary impulse 
beyond and above every other, is the necessary attribute 
of every moral being. 

21* 


246 DIVINE UNION. 


3. And if this be the case, the inquiry naturally 
arises here, — What is life in God? Or, in other words, 
what is that elementary, self-moving, and self-instiga- 


tive principle in God, which constitutes the life of God 2. 


{t is this inquiry, which we have already endeavored to 
answer and explain in the first and second chapters of 
Part IV. of this Work. The life of God is Love; — holy 
love ; — love uncreated and eternal, because God, who is 
uncreated and eternal, could not exist without it; — love, 
without hope of reward ; — love of everything which ex- 
ists, simply because it does exist; love, which is found- 
ed in the truth, and which harmonizes with justice. 

4. It may be proper to recall here a passage from one 
of the preceding chapters, to which we have just re- 
ferred. It is this : — “It cannot be too often repeated, in 
relation to God, that love stands as the centre of his 
being. Far more than anything else, it is the essential 
element of his life as God. It is true, it is preceded in 
the order of nature by faith. 'This we have already 
had occasion to notice. In the natural order, faith is the 
antecedent of love, and is, also, its necessary condition. 
But while it can be truly said, that both faith and love 
have their appropriate place, and that both are essential, 
it is also true, that love, considered as an element of the 
divine nature, stands nearer the centre of existence, and 
contains in itself the motive or active principle of being. 
All other things are subordinate to it. Infinite space 
and infinite time are its locality; infinite knowledge is 
its minister and handmaid; the conscience is its guard, 
pronouncing within and without, its moral value; the 
will executes its decrees; but the moving principle, the 
essence, the Lire of the Infinite as God, that which 
gives inspiration to knowledge, motion to power, and 
impulse to the will, is, and must be, Love.” 


UNION IN PROVIDENCE. 2AT 


5. And again, if it be inquired, — What is life, (that 
is to say, the ¢ruwe life,,—in man,—the answer is the 
same. It is pure or holy love; and it differs from the 
same love in God, only in this respect, — in the one it is 
finite, in the other it is infinite; in the one it is derived, 
in the other it is eternal. 

Scougall has entitled his remarkable work on thé 
higher religious experience, — The Life of God in the 
Soul of Man. 'The title is mystical, (that is to say, it 
is mysterious or obscure to those who do not understand 
it,) but it has its meaning. The life of God is the un- 
created and self-moving principle in God of holy love. 
And the life of God in the soul of man is the same prin- 
ciple of holy love, diffused from its eternal source, and 
become “‘localized,’”’ if we may so express it, in man’s 
soul. In both cases, both in the infinite personality, 
and in the finite personality, in God and in man, it is 
the LIFE. 

And these views help us to explain many passages 
of Scripture, which have an important meaning. The 
existence of an inward principle, both in the Son of God 
and in the Father, —a principle which may properly be 
called their iife, —scems to be asserted in the Gospel of 
John, fifth chapter, 26th verse: —‘‘For as the Father 
has life in himself, so hath he given to the Son to_ 
have life in himself”’ That is to say, there is an 
eternal principle of life in God, as we have endeavored 
to show and explain in former chapters; and that life 
which is in God, is communicated from him to the Son. 
And it may be added, that this life, which is commu- 
nicated from the Father to the Son, the life of eternal 
purity and love, is communicated from’ the Son to all 
who are born from the death of nature into the true 
life of grace. And hence the expressions in the next 


/ 


248 DIVINE UNION. 


chapter: — ‘I am the bread of life 7’? —in other words, — 
the living source of guidance and salvation to others ;-—~+) © 


of whom it may further be said, that they are truly | 


guided and truly saved, only when they have the true 
life imparted to them. And, again, the Saviour says 


in another passage: — “‘ He, that heareth my word, and 


believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life 0) inl 


not merely everlasting physical existence, but that ever- 


living and life-giving principle of holy love, which con- 
stitutes the true life. And, again, he says: — “‘ Whoso- j 


ever drinketh of the water I shall give him, shall never 
thirst; but the water that I shall give him, shall be in 


him a well of water, springing up to everlasting life?’4q 


Giod is the infinite and ever-living ocean of love; —en- 


circling every being, and everywhere, by the necessary 5 


impulses of his nature, urging admission into the hearts 
that are susceptible of love. And just as soon as Christ, 
who is the “way and the truth,” as well as the ‘‘life,” 


opens the hearts of men by the mighty power which is é 


in him, then God’s life becomes man’s life; and the 


fountain which is in man is ever-living, because it isa 


supplied from a source which is ever full. And, again, 


in the first chapter of the same Gospel, it is said of © 


the Saviour: — “In Him was life, and the LIFE was the 
light of men.” ‘That is to say, in Him was the living 


and life-giving principle of unselfish benevolence, the 


same principle which constitutes the life of the Father; 
and the manifestation of this principle was the hight, 
in other words, the instruction of men. The embody- 
ing in Christ, or the “impersonation,” if we may so 
express it, in Christ, of unselfish and perfect benevo- 


lence, could not fail to teach them their own ‘fallen — 
condition, by placing it in contrast with the superior _ 


excellence, which was thus revealed to them. 


UNION IN PROVIDENCE. 249 


And expressions of this kind, though, perhaps, not 


very common, are entirely in accordance with the nature 
and facts of things. This principle of holy love is so 


much superior to every other, that the person or being 
who possesses it, is very properly called the living one, 


the one that has dife, or even the life itself. There are 


no other expressions in the language, which meet the 


ease so exactly. And in accordance with what has been 


said, we find again, in the first Epistle of John, the fol- 


lowing expressions: — ‘‘'T'uE LIFE was manifested, and 
we have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you 


that ETERNAL LIFE, which was with the Father, and 


which was manifested to us.” 


The opposite of this living and divine principle is 
death. And men, who are not in the life of holy love, 
by which they become united with the life of God, are 
said to be dead ; —in the language of Paul to the Ephe- 
sians, — ‘‘dead in trespasses and sins.” 

6. To recur here again to the subject of a superin- 
tending Providence, we wish to say now, that the har- 
mony with Providence, which constitutes union with 
God, is not the harmony of mere conviction and com- 
pulsion, but the harmony of love;—not the harmony 
of necessity, but the harmony of choice. In other 


words, having the true life in our own souls, namely, 


the principle of holy love,—the principle of love to 
God and love to man, —we must live in the midst of | 
the divine providences, as in our natural and true home. 
- It may, perhaps, in a certain sense, be said of the 
slave, in his inability to escape from his prison: and his 
chains, that he harmonizes with them. But he does not 
do it in the same sense, unless he has the same grace of 
God in his heart, in which Paul and Silas did, when. 
they made their prison resound with their songs. That 


250 DIVINE UNION. 


central life, which consists in holy love, and not the con- _ 
science, Sieh is merely the guard of the life, lays the — 
foundation for unity. ed 

We repeat, therefore, that we are to dwell in the midst — 
of God’s providences by the choice and harmonizing | 
power of a new and loving nature; — not merely because © 
we ought to be there, but because we Jove to be there; a 
being held in our position, not by the compulsions of an _ 
exterior force, but by the loving attraction of our own | 
souls. Anything short of this is merely an adjustment — 
of position forced from without, and not an union sought | 
for and demanded from within; —the union of an arbi- © 
trary arrangement, and not the union of a harmoniz- | 
ing life. a 

7. But in saying that those who truly harmonize — 
with Providence, do it by the impulse of a natural life — 
rather than by law, we do not mean to say or imply, — 
that the life either in God or man, is life without law. — 
When the soul is right, by having the true life at its 
centre, the law is necessarily hidden in it. The holy | 
soul is a law to itself, in a higher sense than that in — 
which the Apostle says, “ the Gentiles are a law to them- — 
selves ;” — because the law is not only proclaimed with- — 
in, but is fulfilled within ; —is not only developed in the | 
conscience, but, what is infinitely more, is realized in — 
the heart. mH 

When the law is thrown out of the heart by rebellion, | 
it necessarily assumes a position in relation to the heart — 
aB ExTRA. Whether proclaimed in the conscience, or | 
still more outwardly, in the formal and published an- — 
nouncement, it takes a position, relatively to the central 
element, which may properly be described as exterior; — 
—becoming, as it were, a “flaming sword,” which — 
flashes around, and threatens that interior nature from _ 


UNION IN PROVIDENCE. 251 


% 
| 
| 
| 
} 
i 
| 


which it has been expelled. It proclaims, it remon- 
strates; and in the end, if no heed is given to it, it 


destroys. 


_ But in respect to the elementary principle or life of 
the holy soul, it may very properly be said, that the law 
exists, not out of it, but iit. In other words, the soui, 
in its highest or central principle of movement, is both 
life and law. And, what is worthy of notice, the law 
exists in the life, almost without being known; —a 
voice without utterance ; — silent and peaceful, and yet 
powerful;—silent, because it is heard instinctively, 
without the formality and the noise of an announce- 
ment; — peaceful, because it is received and obeyed from 


: the love of itself, and not from fear of its penalty ;—— 


i 


powerful as that ‘still, small voice” of God, which is 
stronger than the wind and the earthquake. In the last 
days the great ocean of life shall flow into all the sub- 
ordinate channels; — one nature, one principle of move- 
ment, but infinitely diversified. In those days, men, in 
| being inwardly taught, shall everywhere have both the 
life and the law in the life; — that is to say, in that cen- 
tral element of holy love, that heart of hearts, without 
which the soul can always be justly described as pDEaD. 
“For this is the covenant that I will make with the 
house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord. I will 
put my laws into their minds and write them in their 
hearts ; and I will be to them a G'od, and they shall be 
to me a people.” — Heb. 8: 10: 


PART SEVENTH. 


UNION WITH GOD IN THE WORK OF MAN'S REDEMPTION. 


CHAPTER I. 


OF THE SUCCESSIVE DEVELOPMENTS OF THE PLAN OF 
REDEMPTION. 


Of the two great periods in the history of redemption. — Outline of 
the first period. — Remarks on the principles of the Old Testament. 


—Of the second great period. — Reference to the personal history — 


| 


of Christ. — Those who are now in the world are called upon to be — 
like him. — Of the efforts and tendencies of the present age. — The © 


final struggle at hand. 


Amone the wonderful works of God there is none © 
more worthy of attention, none more important in its © 
results, both to this world and to other worlds, than that, 
of man’s redemption. Man, in the exercise of that free- : 
dom of choice which God had given him, had no sooner — 
fallen into sin and consequent ruin, than God announced | 
to him, though at first obscurely, the great plan of sal- 


his 


vation. As all Adam’s posterity were involved in his i 
fall, the plan of redemption, which has a relation to the — 
whole human race in all ages of the world, occupies a _ 
sreat extent of time. Beginning with the promises to _ 
Adam and the early patriarchs, which were at first — 
obscurely, and afterwards more clearly, made, it gradu- — 


ally unfolds itself in successive Beeson but at . 


last we see it in distinctness and as a whole. 


UNION IN THE WORK OF REDEMPTION. 253 


_ The plan of human redemption may be divided, for 
the purpose of more distinct views of it, into two great 
periods ; —including some subordinate distinctions and 
periods, to which it is not necessary to give particular 
attention here. 

2. The first period is that which is antecedent to the 
coming of Christ; — comprehending the whole interval 
of time from the fall of Adam to the hour of the Sav- 


_.iour’s birth. ‘The second period, having no conclusion 


which is definitely anticipated and known by men, 
extends from the advent of Christ to the termination, 
whenever it may take place, of human history. 

In the first period, the only account of which is to be 
found in the books of the Old Testament, we have the 


. affecting records of human sin and. sorrow, interspersed 


with intimations of better things to come. At an early 
period, God, who is merciful in his judgments, selected 
a peculiar people, a chosen generation, to whom he 
made his communications, and through whom other 
nations and ages have been taught how widely they 
have wandered, and in what way they may expect to 
return. It is in this period that we find the histories of 
Noah, of Abraham, of Moses, Joshua, Samuel, David, 
and many others, whose lives and labors are connected 


_ in various ways with the great remedial plan. It is here 


that we find prophecy added to prophecy ;—the faint 
intimation uttered to the sorrowing hearts of Adam and 


Eve, that ‘the seed of the woman should bruise the 


Serpent’s head ;’?—-the promise to the patriarch Abra- 
ham, that in his seed ‘all the nations of the earth 


‘Should be blessed ;"— the prophetic declaration of Jacob, 


‘the sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver 

from between his feet, until Sumon come; —the re- 

markable saying of God to Moses, — a saying generally 
| 22 


254 UNION WITH GOD. 


understood by commentators to have a special applica- _ 
tion to Christ, the ‘greatest of prophets, — “TI will raise 
them up.a Prophet from among their brethren like unto H 
thee, and will. put my words in his mouth;’’ — and the | 
prophecies of Christ’s coming, and of a better and more © 
glorious period, prophecies specific in statement and 
sublime in imagery, which are found in the writings of 
Isaiah. * 

3. It is here, in this first period, that we find intima-— 
tions ana declarations of God’s abhorrence of sin; the 
announcement on Mount Sinai of the eternal princi- 
ples of the moral law, which sin had obliterated or ob- 
scured in the human heart; and indications, some of 
them of terrible import, that the relations between sin 
and suffering are unchangeable, and that iniquity can- 
not go unpunished. ‘The ‘Tabernacle and the Temple, 
during successive generations, ministered in the devel- 
opment and inculcation of these great truths. Priests 
and. Levites, in the performance of their allotted duties, 
helped to illustrate and confirm them. They had an 
expression in offerings and sacrifices, which declared 
the hopes as well as the transgressions of the world. It © 
was by means of the bleeding sacrifices in particular 
that the Jews were taught, and other nations were des- 
tined to be taught through them, that “without the 
shedding of blood there is no remission.”’ 

‘The portion of human history, which is illustrated in 
the records of the Old ‘Testament, is exceedingly inter- 
esting and important. ‘The principles which are incul- 
cated, (all those truths and principles which have rela- 
tion to God, to man’s spiritual nature, to sin, redemption, 
and. holiness,) are the same as those in the New; — less 
distinctly revealed, but not differing in nature. "The 


*Gen. 3: 153°22% 719... Deut. 18:15, :18. Isas: 


UNION IN THE WORK OF REDEMPTION. 2556 


New is the complement and fulfilment of the Old. And 

: it will be found true, that the Old Testament will be 

4 valued, — its history, its poetry, its prophecies, its types, 
will be studied and gratefully appreciated, —just in pro- 
portion as the spirit of the New is felt and realized in 
the human heart. 

‘4, The second period in thé isa of the great work 
of man’s redemption may be regarded as beginning with 
the advent of Christ, which, in being the completion of 
a former order of things, was itself the commencement 
of a new order. This new order or dispensation of 
things will be completed only when the objects for 
which Christ came, are secured by the redemption and 
permanent renovation of the human race. 

The events occurring in the first period were merely 
preparatory ; —all of them having relation to the Sav- 
iour’s coming and to those events and results which were 
connected with his coming. Before the Saviour’s birth 
there had been labors and sufferings; — there had been 
teachings and prophecies, and ceremonies and. sacrifices 
innumerable. And yet, they all were comparatively of 
no value, and had no effect, except in connection with 
the advent of the Son of God; much had been done pre- 
paratively, but nothing had been done effectually. It 
was Christ’s coming which explained the import of pre- 

ceding institutions and events, and which gave them 
their efficacy. And, therefore, until this period, it could. 
not be said of the human race generally, nor of any pare 
of the human race, ‘ Ye are bought with a price.” 

In. the language of President Edwards, who refers, in 
his remarks, to the period of Christ’s coming, ‘‘ No part 
of the price was offered ill now. But as soon as Christ 
was incarnate, then the purchase began immediately 
without any delay, and the whole time of Christ’s humil- 


256 UNION WITH GOD. 


jation, from the morning that Christ began to be incar-— 


nate, till the morning that he rose from the dead, was 


taken up with his purchase. And then the purchase 4 


was entirely and completely finished.” * 


- 5. But if, in the language of President Edwards, the 
“purchase was completely finished,” it was not accepted — 
and not even known by those for whose benefit it was — 


made, except to a very limited extent. If the purchase 


was completed, the plan of salvation was not completed. — 


‘It still remained necessary that those who were lost, 
those for whom this great work of suffering and redemp- 
tion was thus brought to a close, should hear and under- 
stand the announcement of this “joyful sound.” ‘The 
completion of the plan of salvation required from the 


beginning, and does now require, that the Gospel, the. 


good news of redemption, should be preached to every 


creature. In connection with what the Saviour had ~ 


done, it could be said, with great and emphatic truth, 


that the prison doors of a fallen race were thrown open; — 


—pbut those who were in the prison were so blind, and so 
in love with their own wretchedness, that it had become 
necessary to teach them their sin and their blindness, 
and to take them by the hand and to lead them out into 
the purchased liberty. 

The plan of salvation, therefore, in its second period, 
is still in progress, and, this being the case, there still 
remains a great work to be done;—a work in which 
holy men have been engaged from the time of Christ ;— 


a work in which they will continue to be engaged, until — 


the last darkened mind is enlightened, the last ruined 
soul is saved. 
6. In order to understand and feel the spirit of this 


aew dispensation of things, in order to harmonize suc- — 


-* Edwards’ History of Redemption, Period II., part Ist. 


UNION IN THE WORK OF REDEMPTION. 257 


cessfully in the prosecution of the plan of redemption 
as it is now in progress, it 1s important to be well 


acquainted with the personal history of Christ. Study 
Christ, that ye may be like him. 

How affecting is the simple, yet wonderful story of 
the Saviour’s life! Behold him, the ruler and king who 


had been so long predicted, making his appearance, not 


in the splendor of the palace, but in the humility of the 
manger! See him, as if the powers of darkness trem- 
bled before his infancy, carried in his mother’s arms a 
fugitive into Egypt! Mark the early developments of 
his wisdom, as he converses and reasons with the 
learned Jewish teachers in the Temple! Appreciating 
the great truth of a Divine Providence, which requires 
the adjustment of action to circumstances, he said to 
John the Baptist, — “‘It becometh us to fulfil all right- 
eousness.” And accordingly, in his domestic relations, 
he fulfilled, in meekness and love, the duties of a son and 
brother. In relations of a more general and public 
nature, he conformed to the civil and religious institu- 
tions of his country ; — rejoicing in what was good, and 
submitting to what was imperfect and evil, because the 
day of its destruction had not arrived. Full of divine 
sympathy, he went about doing good; but without the 
spirit of boasting, and “without observation.” The 


appointed renovator of the world, he may be said to 


have restored institutions prospectively, by sowing great. 
principles which were to germinate and bear fruit in the 
appropriate hour of Providence. He was a man ;— but, 


-unlike man in his fallen and depraved state, he was a 


man dwelt in by the Holy Ghost, who descended visibly 

upon him. Baptized of John in the waters of the Jordan, 

—teaching men with heavenly wisdom, and at the same 

time exemplifying in his life the principles of eternal 
22* 


258 UNION WITH GOD. 


truth and love, — persecuted but never avenging himseif; 


__in all situations and under all circumstances, he realizes. 
and exemplifies the full idea of the Son of God. His — 
last act is to die, not for himself, but for others »— “The 


Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world.” 


7. In the matter of union with God in the great work 


of the world’s redemption, ‘‘ Christ as our example.” 


Those who are now in the world, called upon to realize — 


its situation, and to labor for its restoration, can be in 
union with God only so far as they have Christ’s spirit. 
There is a sense in which it can be said, with great 
truth, that holy souls are the perpetuation of Christ. 
‘We are called upon, therefore, to be just what Christ 
would be if he were now living. If he were now on 
earth, it is certain that he would live, and labor, and 
suffer for the completion of that great object for which 
he lived and suffered so many centuries ago. In the 
same spirit of meekness, in the same fixedness of pur- 
pose, in the same readiness to act and to endure, he 
would say now, as then, “I come to do thy will.” 

8. It is a matter of gratitude, however obvious may 
be the delinquencies of Christians, that something of the 
true spirit of Christ still lives. This spirit has developed 
itself with increased truth and energy in more recent 
times. ‘The remark is often made, and there seems to 
be a foundation for it, that the commencement of the 


present century was the commencement of a new and 


better series of ages. ‘The closing years of the last cen- 
tury were signalized by the prevalence of infidelity, and 
by crime and violence, almost unexampled. In the 
extremity of those sufferings and sorrows, which were 


the natural result of their infidelity, men began to look © 
to God, and to believe in him as alone able to give them ~ 


help. An increase of faith naturally inspired love ; and 


UNION IN THE WORK OF REDEMPTION. 259 


the new series of ages has been honorably yeaeuctie 
by deeds of benevolence. 

It is a great and cheering truth, that the progress of 
the church cannot be separated from the progress of 
humanity. And probably more has been done by Chris- 
tians for the elevation of the human race, during the last 
half century, than during any previous period of equal 
length, with the exception perhaps of the period denomi- 
nated the apostolic age. Within the period of half a 
century how many benevolent institutions have been 
founded! How many missionaries have been sent to 
heathen lands! What mighty changes and improve- 
ments have taken place in administrations and forms of 
government! What efforts have been made to enlighten - 
the ignorant, to relieve the poor, the oppressed, the 
dumb, the blind, the insane! How changed is the pub- 
lic sentiment in relation to war!—and how widely dis- - 
seminated, compared with the state of things at any 
former time, is the sentiment of universal brotherhood 
and good-will to man! 

9. These and many other favorable results have been 
witnessed, chiefly through the influence and exertions 
of Christians, and by the mighty power of the religious 
sentiment. Christians have done much, not only be- 
cause they desired to do much, but because they believed. 
They begin to understand, more than in former periods, 
the mighty results of simple trust in God. It 1s a senti- 
ment found in the great poet of the ancient Romans, 
that faith, even in the ordinary concerns of life, is power, 
“ PossunT QuI Posse VIDENTUR.” And if much, in accord- 
ance with this sentiment, can be done by the natural 
man with the aids and strength of natural faith, how 
much more can be done by those, who, in adding reli- 


260 UNION WITH GOD. 


gious to natural faith, are aided by the promises and the _ 


power of God! 


But what has been witnessed during the last half cen- _ 
tury is only the beginning. The mighty power of divine ~ 
faith strengthens itself day by day. If to-day the man — 
of faith can arrest the listening ear of warring nations, — 
to-morrow he may expect to hear the last sound of their — 


cannon. Every step that he takes gives him increased 


strength for effort and increased influence. If to-day he — 


can plant his missionary stations in Africa, in China, in 


Syria, in the Sandwich Islands, to-morrow, by effort — 


added to effort, and by faith added to faith, he may 


expect to see the foundations of the old idolatry totter, - 


and its temples fall. 

10. Engage, therefore, in the great work of man’s 
redemption. Engage in it, not in human strength, not 
under the influence of human excitement, but in Christ’s 
strength, under the leadings of the Holy Ghost, and in 
the fixedness and calmness of everlasting principle. | 


The day in which we live, if we regard either the — 


intimations of prophecy or the signs of the times, is the 


day of the last struggle. Everything indicates that the — 


powers of light and darkness are marshalling themselves 
for a contest greater than any which has preceded it. 
Humanity must rise now, or, we have reason to fear, 


that it will sink forever. Whatever may be the result © 


of the struggle, there is but one course for those who 
would either seek or maintain their union with God, 
and that is, to possess the spirit of Christ, and, like him, 
to toil, to suffer, and to die if it be necessary, for the 
renovation of a fallen and suffering race. 


CHATTER’ TT. 


OF THE THREE FORMS OF REDEMPTION, PHYSICAL, MENTAL, 
| AND SOCIAL. 


Of man’s primitive place of residence. — The beauty of the earth will 
be restored again, when mdn is made holy.—Of the restoration of 
man’s physical system.— Of the restoration of the lower orders of 
creation. — Of mental or personal redemption. — Of social redemp- 
tion. 


Tuere are three forms of redemption, physical, men- 
tal or personal, and social. When man, as the head of 
creation, fell into sin, it may be said, with a great degree 
of truth, that the physical creation fell with him. ‘There 
are connections and sympathies between man and the 
outward or physical world, which are not well under- 
stood, and are not likely to be well understood, in the 
present state of things. Certain it is, however, that in 


‘a world destined to be the home of holy and happy 


beings, the outward will correspond to the inward, the 


objective to the subjective, the home to the inhabitant. 
It is not in the nature of God, who delights in the beau- 


tiful as well as in the good, to surround a holy being 
with barrenness and deformity, and to compel him to 
take up his abode among thorns and thistles. ‘The 
world was and must have been beautiful as the happy 
souls that dwelt in it. Originally the earth was every- 
where clothed with its green and pure carpet; fruits, 
suitable to the support of its holy inhabitants, hung from 
the branches of richly laden trees, and flowers sprang 


262 UNION WITH GOD. 


up at their feet. ‘Out of the ground made the Lord 


God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and 
that is good for food.” 


2. When man became a sinner his beautiful home 
changed its character, and became adapted to sinners. — 
God said unto Adam, ‘“‘ Because thou hast eaten of the 


tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt 
not eat of it; cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sor- 
row shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life. ‘Thorns 


also, and thistles shall it bring forth unto thee!” It — 


is not without reason, therefore, that the poet Milton, in 
allusion to the consequences of Adam’s fall, says: 


‘¢ Earth felt the wound; and nature from her seat, 
Sighing through all her works, gave signs of woe 
That all was lost.” 


And, as if the earth were really as well as figuratively 


conscious of the great change which it had undergone, 
the Apostle says, in very remarkable language : — ‘ For 


we know that the whole creation groaneth and trav- 3 


aileth together in pain until now.’ * | 
3. When holiness is restored to man, whose fall was" 
the cause of its being blighted, it is reasonable to sup-_ 


pose that fruitfulness will again return to the earth. e 
Its beauty also, as well as its fruitfulness, will be reés- _ 
tablished. Its defaced outlines will gradually be restored, _ 
and its tints retouched. 'There will no longer be storm | 
and tempests. ‘The cold of winter and the heat of sum i 


mer will be tempered to that degree of heat and cold : 


which will be best suited to the renovation of the earth, 
and also to man’s condition and happiness. ‘hat gold- 
en age, when the air, the earth, and the waters, will all 
contribute to bring forth the beeiect and the beautifull 


* Romans 8: 22. 


1 


i 


| 


UNION IN THE WORK OF REDEMPTION. 263 


that primitive age of delights, of which we have the 
tradition in many nations, — will return again. 


“The swain, in barren deserts, with surprise, 
Sees lilies spring and sudden verdure rise ; 
And starts, amid the thirsty wilds, to hear 
New falls of water murmuring in his ear.” 


4. Nor will these results be limited to outward nature. 
Man himself will be restored physically. Now, bowed 
down with many infirmities, the subject of many severe 
and wasting diseases, he has lost that dignity and beauty 


which once attached to him. As he recovers, through 
_ the grace of God, from the controlling influence of inor- 
| dinate desires, his physical appetites will seek those 
_ objects which are best adapted to the wants of the 
_ physical nature; and he will use them, whatever they 
may be, in the proper manner. Holiness, by directing 


him to those things which can be rightly used, will give 
purification and erectness to that which sin has polluted 
and prostrated. And it is one of the favorable signs of 


| the times, that the attention of men, roused at last to 
observe the connection between moral and physical 
_ disorder, is already so widely directed to this subject. 


Those who are in unity with God in their modes of liv- 


ing, find a restoration of health, of strength, and of 
physical enjoyment, such as will vindicate the goodness 


of God, and illustrate the import of the declaration of 
Scripture, that “Godliness is profitable unto all things, 


having promise of the life that now as, and of that which 
1s to come.,’’* 


5. And, as incidentally connected with these views, it 


“may properly be added, that the various forms of the ani- 
| mal creation inferior to man will probably participate in 


* 1st Timothy 4: 8. 


264 - UNION WITH GOD.. ; pt 


some degree in the renovation and blessedness of that 
better time. — | sl 

Nor is this a merely fanciful view. It has its founda- 
tion in the nature of things. Every system of things 
has a unity, or, what is the same thing, a correspond- oe 
ence and harmony of existence. All beings, for instance, + 
which live upon the same earth, breathe the same air, p 
and are sustained by the same heavenly Father, neces- — 
sarily have ties of relationship, which are sacred and 
eternal. The earth is wisely and expressly fitted for 
the support of a great system of life, —a system which ee 
may be said, in its outward forms at least, to be elabo- a 
rated from its own elements, —a system infinitely vari- _ 
ous in its manifestations, but still bearing everywhere — 
the marks of a divine unity. Of this great system man a 
stands at the head; but he is not on that account sep- ‘| 
arate from the foot: All the inferior parts of creation 
may be said to embody something which finds its” 
resultant and its completion in man. It is to him they — 
tend; — it is in him they find their unity. They hardly — 
ies more of true adaptation of position, without man, — 
than the inferior limbs of his own body can have life - ; 
and adaptation without the head which controls them. j 

So long, therefore, as man kept his original position, ~ Bf 
and was fully united with God, so long he sustained — 
relations of harmony and unity with all inferior beings; — ' 
not excepting the worm beneath his feet. ‘These rela-_ 
tions were disturbed by his fall. But the Gospel, which 
once more restores man to his proper place, will restore 
all which is necessarily connected with him. ‘There is 
nothing in nature, either in its material or its sentient 
forms, which will not experience the effects of that creat 
change, which it must be admitted is destined primarily 
and chiefly to raise and bless man, who is the head and 


UNION IN THE WORK OF REDEMPTION. 265 


the crown of nature; so that trees, and flowers, and 
birds, and all living things, will have occasion to rejoice 
in the consequences involved in Christ’s coming. In the 
language of the prophet Isaiah, “‘ The mountains and the 


hills shall break forth before you into singing; and all 


the trees of the field shall clap their hands.”* And if 
the trees and mountains shall clap their hands, much 
more will this figurative but beautiful language be true 
of the hunted and bleeding beast and’ bird which inhabit 


| them. 


_ 6. But thus beginning at the lower and advancing to 
the higher, we proceed to say, that redemption is felt, 
and is designed to be felt, more than anywhere else, in 
man’s fallen spirit. ‘There is a mental, as well as a 
physical, redemption; and the mental or personal is as 
much more important than the physical, as mind holds 
a higher rank and is more important than matter. 

The restoration of man is primarily a restoration of 
the affections. When man fell, his affections changed. 


_ their centre; and that love, which at first centred in 
| God, afterwards centred in himself. Being disunited 
_ from the true centre, he never afterwards could be truly 
united with anything, except those things which adhered 
to himself as their centre. In this state of separation 
| from God, and of sin against God, he is redeemed from 
_ the penalty of sin by accepting that forgiveness which 
| is offered through Jesus Christ. 


But it is important to remember that there are two 


| Offers involved in that great work, which Christ came to 


accomplish ; — the one is, forgiveness for the past, and 


the other is, a new life in God for the future. A new 
_ life in God, which implies entire reconciliation with God 
as its basis, could not be offered to man, until the penalty. 


<j _* Tsaiah 55: 12, 
23 


266 UNION WITH GOD. 


of the old transgression was remitted. And, on the — 
other hand, the remission of the penalty of the past 9 
would be wholly unavailing, without the permanent | : 
restoration of a divine and living principle in man’s — 


spiritual part. 


7. The great result, therefore, of the plan of roderdia a 
tion, when fully carried out in relation to man, is to 
restore him to such a position of harmony with God, — 
that he may be said ever afterwards to live in and from _ 
God. Nothing short of this is redemption ;— nothing _ 
short of this is worthy to be thought of and to be & 


regarded as redemption. 


And this great result, —a result on which depends union _ 
or separation, life or death, happiness or woe, —is made 
to turn upon his own free choice. It is not left to him, 


however, to choose a mixed or middle course. And the 


reason is that there is no such course. “Ye cannot — 
serve God and mammon.” ‘There can be but one true— 
life, and that is life from God. Our heavenly Father, . 
dwelling in man as the Divine Teacher or Comforter, — 
must be the whole, the true life and the whole life in us, _ 
or he can be nothing. And this is a matter, which, as i 
a moral agent, man is called upon to decide for him- t 
self; —namely, whether God, without dividing his influ- — 


ence with any other master or teacher, shall be his 


inward life, and thus be, in all coming time, the 
inspiration ch source of all good. ‘This choice is civeae 
him in Christ. If he accepts God, he lives. If he 


rejects him, he dies. 


8. In the day of his true restoration, therefore, God | 
once more really dwells in man. We do not say, how- 


ever, that he actually enters and takes full possession — 
at once. Just as soon as man gives his exiled Father 


permission to enter as a whole God and a God forever — 


q | 


| 


UNION IN THE WORK OF REDEMPTION. 267 


he enters effectually ; but ordinarily he enters by degrees, 


and in accordance with the usual laws and operations of 
the human mind. He does not break the vessel of 
man’s spirit, nor mar its proportions, nor deface anything 
which is truly essential, to it; but sradually enters into 
all parts of it, readjusts it, removes the stains which sin 
had made upon it, and fills it with divine light. Man’s 
business in this great work is a very simple one. It is 
to cease all resistance, and to invite the Divine Master of 
the mind to enter it in his own time and way. And 
even this last is hardly necessary. God does not wait 
even to be invited to come, except so far as an invitation 
is implied in the removal of the obstacles which had 
previously kept him out. Man’s ceasing from all resist- 
ance, and his willingness to receive God as the all in all, 
and for all coming time, may be regarded as essentially 
the completion of the work in respect to himself; but 
the work of God, who is continually developing from 
the soul new powers and new beauties, can be completed 
only with the completion of eternity. 

9, In connection with what has now been said, we 
may understand what is meant by the second form of 
redemption, or mental redemption. But this is not all 
that is involved in the great work of Christ. In addi- 
tion to the redemption of the individual, which of course 


is involved in the redemption of the mind of the indi- 
vidual, there is also social redemption; that is to say, 


man is redeemed and elevated in all his relations, — 
not only as a man, but as the member of a family, as a 
neighbor, as a citizen. In all these respects, just so soon 
as he has become the subject of a new life, received 
from the great Author and Master of life, he is not 
merely guided by the ordinary sympathies of our nature, 
and the ordinary sentiments of duty, but by those sym- 


268 UNION WITH GOD 


pathies aiid sentiments as they are purified and height- _ 
ened by the perfected influences of religion. As society 
in its various modifications is made up of individuals — 


associated with other individuals, the redemption and 


elevation of the whole mass will correspond to the 
redemption and elevation of the individual. And man 


cannot become godlike by unity with God, —he cannot — 
say with the apostle, “‘ Chris?,”—which is an expression 


for the true image and power of God, — “‘ liveth in me,” 


without diffusing the image of the inward Divinity over — 


every relation he sustains, over every association of 


which he is a member. And thus the families and_ 
‘societies of earth, under the purifying influences and ~ 
power of religion, will reflect the brightness of the fami- — 


lies and societies of heaven. 


pe { 


en 


CHA PTE Bs FEI. 


OF UNION WITH GOD IN THE WORK OF MENTAL OR PER- 
SONAL REDEMPTION. 


References to the prophet Isaiah. — Remarks. — Of man’s union with 
God in the work of his own restoration. — References to the prophet 
Malachi. — Of inward death or crucifixion. — Spiritual crucifixion 
followed by spiritual resurrection. — Of the soul’s new life. 


Concernine the ultimate effects of Christ’s coming 
upon the material world, and upon the inferior orders of 
creation, effects which are incidentally connected with 
man’s restoration, who is the head of the whole system, 
it is not necessary to add anything to the few remarks 
already made. With one or two passages, therefore, 
from the prophet Isaiah, we leave that view of the sub- 
ject. Of the restoration of the earth, he says: ‘The 
wilderness.and the solitary place shall be glad for them; 
and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose. It 
shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and 
singing. ‘The glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, 
the excellency of Carmel and Sharon.” * Of the ani- 
mal creation, he says: ‘‘'The wolf also shall dwell with 
the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; 
and the calf and the young lion, and the fatling together, 
and a little child shall lead them.” + 


* Tse...35: -1, 2. tIsax ‘11:6, 
23% | 


270 UNION WITH GOD. 


2. It may undoubtedly be said of these, and other 


similar passages, that they are figurative. But it will 


be found, in the end, that the truth which they anticipate 


and predict will exceed the beauty of the picture, as it 


existed in the imagination of the prophetic poet. When mn 


the head of creation resumes his nature of holy love, the 
untamed and violent passions of the inferior members 


will become extinct. And the earth herself, as if con- a 
scious of the mighty change, will withdraw her thorns, — 


and crown herself with roses. 


3. But our great business now is with man. What- 
ever other things may be involved incidentally in the 
work of redemption, the great object of Christ’s coming — 


is the restoration of man. And pursuing the subject of 


the union of man with God in this new aspect, namely, t 


t 


in the work of redemption, the question arises here, how q 


can man be said to be united with God in the work of @ 


his own restoration ? 


Various answers might be given to this inquiry. A — 
full examination of the subject involved in the inquiry 4 


would exceed our limits. We propose, therefore, to — 
make but few remarks upon it. Our first remark is this, — 


Man corresponds in his position, and may be said to be 
united with God in the work of his personal recovery, ~ 
when he willingly and firmly yields his disfigured spirit — 
to the restoring power of the hands of the great work- — 


4 
Ng 


man. In other words, he unites with God in his own 
restoration, when he lets the great Master of the mind — 


work upon him. : 


A. There is an illustration of the subject to be found — 
in the prophet Malachi: ““Who may abide the day of his — 
coming?” says the prophet, ‘and who shall stand 
when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner’s fire and 
like fuller’s soap. And he shall sit as a refiner and — 


ae 


UNION IN THE WORK OF REDEMPTION. 27] 


“purifier of silver; and he shall purify the sons of Levi, 
and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer 
unto the Lord an offering of righteousness.” 

The great trouble with men is, even when they have 
some sense of religion, and begin to estimate its value, 
that they are unwilling to let the Spirit of God perform 
his appropriate work upon them. Sin has attached itself 
to the spirit’s surface, like dross to the pure gold. Not 
more insinuating than it is adhesive, it intertwines itself 
with man’s powers and mental exercises with indescriba- 
ble strength ; so much so that it is difficult to separate the 
good from the evil, to detach the pure from the impure. 
And it never can be done effectually and truly without: 
the operations of that omniscient Spirit, which are 
“quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged 
sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and 
spirit.” * 

5. We codperate, therefore, with God, in the work of 
personal redemption, when we submit to this divine 
operation without reluctance; — willing to be placed in 
the crucible, and to be subjected to the fiercest flames till 
everything evil is consumed and taken away. This is 
what some ancient experimental writers call death, that 
is to say, death to nature, or rather to the corruptions of 
nature. Occasionally varying the expressions they em- 
ploy, they sometimes call it crucifixion or inward cruci- 
fixion. As Christ died in the body, say these writers, 
So we must die in the spirit; —as Christ was crucified 
and laid in the tomb, so we, in the spiritual sense, must 
be crucified and be laid in the tomb with him. 'The 
expressions, though they may sound singularly to. some, 
convey a great truth, which has a permanent foundation 
in the principles of morals and religion. We cannot be 


ar # Heb. 4: 12, 


272: UNION WITH GOD. 


allied with God without freedom from sin. 'To be free — 
from sin is obviously to die to sin. And it would not be 
easy to die to sin, without going through that process of 
inward crucifixion, which is the antecedent of death. | ) 
6. But it is a great mistake to suppose, that those, who 
go down into the tomb by the death of their earthly or 
sensual life, must remain there; —as if, because they 
are dead to sin, they must therefore be dead to human- 
ity. We become dead to one system of life, which is” 
wholly evil, that we may become alive to another, which 
is intrinsically and wholly good. And as we cooperate 
with God in our crucifixion, by submitting to all the 
pains he inflicts; so we codperate with him in our spirit- — 
ual resurrection by voluntarily accepting the terms by 
which he becomes in us a new life. And the only terms 
which God does or can propose, are, that he shall be 
All in All to the soul ; —becoming its life just as truly, 
though under different circumstances and in a different — 
way, as he is the life of the material universe, — just as — 
truly as he is the life or life-giving principle of plants — 
and trees, and of the instincts of the lower animals. If 
plants and trees grow by their own law of growth, it 1s — 
still true that God is in the law. If animals move by _ 
their own law of movement, it is still true that the cen- © 
tral principle of the law of movement is a divine power. : 
And if the holy man acts, it is still true that God acts in 
him. And the only difference between this case, and ~ 
those which have just been mentioned, is this. God acts — 
in the holy man in connection with, and perhaps we ‘ 
should say, in subordination to, his own choice. 
7. Men have made a mistake in locating, if we may 
‘so express it, the action of man’s free agency. The true — 
action of man’s moral agency is found, not in the choice — 
of particulars, but in the choice of the wniversal ; — not — 
. ; mae | 
i ; 


er 


| 


UNION IN THE WORK OF REDEMPTION. 273 


in deciding upon this particular thing or that particular 
thing, which he cannot do with certainty on account ot 


his limited powers, but in committing his power of 
choice into God’s hands, and choosing God to choose for 

There are different degrees of union in the work of 
redemption, as there are different degrees of union in 
other things. But in the case of the man who fully 
unites with God in the work of his personal recovery, 
the choice which we have just mentioned is the choice 
which is actually made by him, — made for the present - 
and made for the future, made now and made forever ; 
—namely, the substitution, at the present time and in 


all time to come, of the divine choice for his own. His 
choice is to let God choose for him, — to cease to lead 


himself, that he may be led, not in some things merely, 
but in all things, by the Spirit of God. He alienates 
himself, that he may be possessed by another; and he 
does it, because he has in another that degree of confi- 
dence and hope, which he does not and cannot have 
in himself. He ceases from his own thoughts, that God 
may think in him and for him;—he ceases from his 
own desires, that God may inspire in him true and heav- 
enly desires; —he relinquishes his own purposes, that 
he may fulfil the purposes of God and of God only. He 
is buried a dead Adam; and so renewed and beautified 
are the features of his nature, that he may be said, ina 
mitigated sense of the terms, to be raised again a living 
Christ. 

8. A few words of explanation should, perhaps, be 


'~Offered here. A philosophical difficulty suggests itself, 


which it is proper to meet. How is it possible that God 
should become operative in this manner, in the human. 


mind, consistently with its nature and laws? It is obvi- 


Bai) 


‘ae 


Q74 UNION WITH GoD. 5 


ous that thought, desire and volition, are essential to. 
man’s nature, and are in fact embraced in the very idea : 
of man. It is a matter of necessity that the human — 
mind shall act by thinking and desiring, and in other 
ways, in the appropriate time of its action. All this is — 
true. And it is equally true that all human action, : 
when it is what it owght to be, is divine action. And . 
this is always the case, (namely, human action is what — 
it ought to be and becomes valid when the power of — 
action, which exists in man’s nature, is brought out in ~ 
. its appropriate issues, not by human preference, but by 
the decisions of Providence. ! 
The difficulty is met, therefore, by a proper adjust & 
ment of the relations existing between God and man. 
The divine and the human are made, if we may so ex- y 
press it, to go together. Nothing is gained either by the ‘ 
exclusion of God or by the extinction of humanity. \ 
Undoubtedly man must act when the time of action — 
comes. Action is his nature. It cannot be otherwise. — 
But if the action is decided, not by subjective or personal — 
preferences, not by a regard to himself, but by a regard 
to the whole, including himself, — in other words, by the } 
divine intimations of an overruling Providence, — then it } 
is true, that the action, which is his own, is also God’s; : 
and that by his own choice, which is to have no choice © 
out of God, the thing done, which would otherwise be — 
merely human, comes to bear the radiant stamp of 
divinity. iS 
9. Without mentioning other devout men, we may 
properly repeat here, as being in harmony sith some of 
_ the views hitherto given, the expressions of the learned” 
and venerable John Arndt, whose name is deservedly 
dear to the Christian world. “If thou believest,”’ he 
says, “that Christ was crucified for the sins of the 


UNION IN THE WORK OF REDEMPTION. 275 


world, thou must with him be crucified to the same. If 
thou refusest to comply with this, thou canst not be a 
living member of Christ, nor be united with him by 
faith. If thou believest that Christ is risen from the 
dead, it is thy duty to rise spiritually with him. Ina 
word, the birth, cross, passion, death, resurrection and 
ascension of Christ, must, after a spiritual manner, be 
transacted in thee.” And again he remarks in another 
place: —‘‘ Let us renounce wholly our own strength, 
our own wisdom, our own will and self-love, that, being 
thus resigned to God alone, we may suffer his power 
freely to work in us, so that nothing may, in the least, 
oppose the will and operations of the Lord.”’* 

10. 1 am aware that this is a hard doctrine to the 
natural heart. It strikes heavily upon that feeling of 
self-confidence, which is one of the evil fruits of our 
fallen condition. But, as it respects myself, if I may be 
allowed in humility of spirit to refer to my own feelings, 
it is a doctrine which is inexpressibly dear to me. I 
have been taught for many years, and by painful experi- 
ence, that I can place no confidence in my own thoughts, 
feelings, or purposes. In none of these respects can I 
be my own keeper. _On the contrary, I have seen, with 
the greatest clearness, that to be left to myself, either in 
these respects or in anything else, is always to be left in 
sin. And so great has been my anguish of spirit; in 
view of my entire inability to guide myself aright, that 
could only pray that I might be struck out of existence 
and be annihilated, or that God would return and keep 
that which I could not keep myself. 3 


* Arndt’s True Christianity, Vol. i., pp. 342, 355, — London edition, 
edited by Jaques. 


q 


UNION WITH GOD. 


IF THOU, 0 GOD, WILT MAKE MY SPIRIT FREE. 


Ir thou, O God, wilt make my spirit free, | 
Then will that darkened soul be free indeed ; 

I cannot break my bonds, apart from thee ; 
Without thy help I bow, and serve, and bleed. 

Arise, O Lord, and in thy matchless strength, 
Asunder rend the links my heart that bind, 

And liberate, and raise, and save at length 
My long enthralled and subjugated mind. 

And then, with strength and beauty in her wings, 
My quickened soul shall take an upward flight, 

And in thy blissful presence, King of kings, 
Rejoice in liberty, and life, and light, 

In renovated power and conscious truth, 


In faith and cheerful hope, in love and endless youth. 


- a 


Omer TER LV. 


OF UNION WITH GOD IN THE WORK-OF REDEMPTION IN RELA@ 
TION TO OTHERS. 


Man’s great business, after his own recovery, to aid in recovering 

others. — The command of Christ to preach the Gospel. — Reference 
to the writings of Paul on the same subject.— Of the missionary 
spirit in early times. — The duty of the present age. — Of the mis- 
sionary spirit as exercised at home. — Of our dependence upon the 
Holy Spirit. — Reference to Richard Mather. 


Man’s first great work is personal; and has reference 
to his own restoration. ‘'T’o renounce his Separation, and 
to unite himself with God, is a work which cannot be 
postponed or made subservient to any other. Being, 
by God’s grace, personally restored to a better state, his 
next business is to aid in the restoration of others. 
And, in doing this, the first thing is to extend the 


_ announcement of Christ’s coming, and of the blessed 


_ Influences connected with it ;— in other words, to preach 
the Gospel. 


2. 'The last words of our blessed Saviour, as they are 


- recorded in the Gospel of Matthew, were these: ‘And 
Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is 
given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye, there- 
| fore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name 
_ of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost ; — 
| teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have 


commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even. 
unto the end of the world.” 


The a - the Saviour is explicit. The apos- 


= 
a —— — 


278 UNION WITH GOD. 


| 
} 
tle Paul inculcates the same great duty, and assigns an 
obvious and urgent reason for it. ‘‘ Whosoever believeth 
on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference . 
between the Jew and the Greek; for the same Lord | 
over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For who- | 
soever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be | 
saved. How, then, shall they call on him in whom 
they have not believed? And how shall they believe in- 
him of whom they have not heard? And how shall | | 
they hear without a preacher? And how shall they 

preach except they be sent? As it is written, How | 

beautiful are the feet of them that preach the (Geena of 

peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!” 

3. In the early periods of the Christian era, the com= 
mand of the Saviour met with a prompt and believing — 
response. The primitive Christians, filled with the. 
spirit of their Divine Master, went abroad in all direc- | | 
tions, and spread everywhere the news of a Saviour 
price, a Saviour risen. Laborious, and full of faith 
and of the Holy Ghost, they not only endured all things, 
but ‘suffered all things; not, hesitating to lay down 
their lives in support of the great truths they declared. | 
At no time since have these efforts of the church alto- 
gether ceased; although in some periods they have not. 
been made main the same degree of wisdom and earnest- 
ness. But while we remember the delinquencies of — 
Christians, it is pleasing to reflect, that the followers of 
Christ, at the present time, oe different names, but 
animated by the same spirit, seem to be preparing ie a 
final and victorious conflict. It appears to be their design. 
and hope, with the divine favor resting upon their labors, 
to rouse themselves at last as one man, and to carry the 
Gospel of the Son of God to every heathen dwelling. 
In this great work let every Christian codperate, with 


- UNION IN THE WORK OF REDEMPTION. 279 


some proper sense of the greatness of the undertaking, 
| and of the obligations which rest upon him. At the 
present eventful period, no man, who has had a fair 
opportunity to develop Christian principle, and to learn 
the weight of Christian responsibility, ought to look 
upon himself as a follower of Christ, unless he feels 
beating in his bosom something of the spirit which ani- 
mated the Johns and Pauls of primitive times. 

4, “Preaching the Gospel,” which we have spoken 
of as man’s great duty after his own restoration to God, 
isa form of expression which may be understood in 
various ways. ‘The first idea attached to it, as we find 
it employed in the New Testament, is announcement 
abroad. It is said of the Saviour, on a certain occasion, 
that he sent his disciples to preach the kingdom of God, 
“and they departed, and went through the towns, 
preaching the Gospel and healing everywhere.” His last 
command was : — ‘Go, therefore, and teach all nations.” 
And we know that the early Christians, after having 
labored a short time at Jerusalem, went abroad, as 
preachers of Christ’s coming and kingdom, into various 
and distant parts of the world. 

Preaching the Gospel abroad, however, does not 
exclude the idea of preaching it at home. The labor 
of those who are united with God, is not limited to the 
transmission of the news of salvation to distant lands. 
This, undoubtedly, is a great and indispensable work ; 
but it is not the whole. He is truly a missionary of 
God, who communicates God’s truth, and discharges 
God’s mission of benevolence, whenever and. wherever 
an opportunity is presented. Harlan Page, who labored 
at home, was as truly a preacher of the Gospel, and as 
truly a missionary, as the Brainerds and Martyns and 
other devoted men, who have preached and toiled in dis- 


280 UNION WITH GOD. 


tant climes and among savage tribes. Always do we 
have the poor, the sick, the suffering, the ignorant with 
us. Constantly are we so situated, that a just and kind 


word, and even a kind look, will have its effect as a — 
messenger of the spirit and truth of the Gospel. ‘The 
ignorant are to be instructed, the suffering to be relieved, 


the impenitent to be awakened, the wandering to be 
reclaimed, the weak in faith and hope to be strengthened. 
There is a sense, in which every man, whatever his 
position in society, either is, or ought to be, a preacher 
of righteousness. Nor will these views be considered as 
unreasonable, or as destitute of foundation, when we 
remember that the man always preaches effectually, and 
cannot help doing so, who stands in the position which 
God’s providence has assigned him; who lives the life 


of prayer and faith, and exhibits in speech and action 
that meek and benevolent spirit, which the Gospel is — 


calculated to inspire. 


5. And now we are to remember, that this great 
work, —namely, the bringing home the Gospel to every — 


human soul, —is God’s work ;—his heart is set upon 


it. For this he has raised up patriarchs and prophets _ 


of other days ; —for this he has employed the ministra- 


tion of angels; —for this, in the fulness of time, he has 
sent his beloved Son. It is his purpose, by means of — 
the Gospel, which was completed in the example and 


death of Christ, to raise up a people set apart for himself; 


—a peculiar people, —a people possessing the Chris-_ 


tian spirit, and zealous of good works. Unchangeable in — 


his purpose, unchangeable in his plan of operation, he — 


can unite with those only, who are ready to unite with 


him. The man who is not disposed to do all that the 
providence of God allows him to do, in aid of this great _ 


\ 


UNION IN THE WORK OF REDEMPTION. 281 


-work, is not a co-worker with God, and is not in har- 


mony with him. 

_ 6. Preach, therefore, by word. Preach also by action. 
Preach the Gospel at home, and preach it every- 
where. But always remember, in connection with a 
deep sense of human infirmity and liability to error, 
to preach it under the guidance, and by the power, of 
the Holy Spirit. The message is from Giod, and God 
only. ‘T’o be united with God in proclaiming his mes- 
Sages, we must speak as God gives us utterance. It is 
important, in this age of the world, when we hope the 
millennial period is rapidly approaching, to revive and to 
act upon the great. primitive truth, that holy men speak 
as they are moved by the Holy Ghost; and that, so far 
as they are holy, they have no power of speaking other- 
wise. 

_ So far as we are in union with God, while it is true 


‘that we ourselves may be said to speak, it is equally true 


that God speaks in us. There is but one true voice. 
The voice which speaks at the centre, if it embodies the 
truth, is the same voice which speaks at the circumfer- 
ence, and which speaks everywhere else. It is incapa- 
ble of change. It speaks in the star, the flower, the 
falling leaf, the ocean’s wave, in the winds, in the thun- 


der, in the sound of the falling water, in the true phi- 


losopher, in the true poet, in the true preacher, in the 
Bible, everywhere the same in import, though various 
and differing in manifestation. When, therefore, we are 
in God by a true unity of spirit, we speak as God would 
have us speak, and by the inspiration of the Almighty. 
7. And truly holy men, in all ages of the world, have 
known, by their inward experience, the truth of what 
has now been said; and they have not hesitated to pro- 
claim what they have known. What was the language 
24% 


282 UNION WITH GOD. 


of the ancient prophets?) What was the language of 
Paul? Everywhere does he discard the idea that his) 
teaching is from himself. Everywhere does he discard — : 
all confidence in human wisdom. Prophets and apos- 
tles, by their own acknowledgment, were only instru-— ) 
ments, which gave form and locality to the divine utter- 
ance. Holy men, in all subsequent ages, have felt and 
spoken in the same way. ‘The records of the interior 
or experimental history of the church show this to be _ 
the case. In all periods of great religious attention, 
and in all cases of deep religious experience, language _ 
is used by those who are the subjects of such experi- — 
ence, which corresponds to the fact of the divine origina- 
tion of all that is true and right in the soul. The © 
human in men may be said at such times to be kept, as 
it is sometimes expressed, in abeyance ; or, what 1s bet- i 
ter, to be placed under a divine and holy direction. 
While they are conscious of personal responsibility, it is 
still true that they utter what is given them. It is 
worthy of notice, that language, which, in religion as 
well as in philosophy, is an index of the mind’s opera- 
tions, often takes at such times the passive instead of the — 
active form;— implying, while it does not exclude the — 
idea of activity, especially of codperative action, that — 
we are also the subjects of action. a 
8. We will give a single instance, among a multi- _ 
tude of others, in illustration of what we mean in this — 
remark. Among the devotedly pious men, who came to i 
this country from England about two hundred years — 
since, was Richard Mather, a preacher of the Gospel. — 
With his wife and children, and many other praying © 
people, he sailed from Bristol, in England, on the twen-_ 
ty-third of May, 1635. With him was another preacher — 
by the name of Maud. Mather kept a journal. “The — 


% 


UNION IN THE WORK OF REDEMPTION. 283 


twenty-fourth,” he says in his journal, “‘ being the Lord’s 
day, the wind was strong in the morning, and the ship 
danced, and many of our women and some children 
were not well, but sea-sick, and mazy or light in their 
heads, and could scarce stand or go without falling, 
unless they took hold of something to uphold them. 
This day Mr. Maud was exercised in the forenoon, and I 
in the afternoon.” The language is passive ; —imply- 
ing that while they preached outward to others, they 
themselves were preached to inwardly by the Holy 
Ghost; and that they could not safely give the word 
to others, unless it was first given to themselves. 

« This form of language is used throughout the book. 
In reference to the second Sabbath on shipboard, he 
says, ‘‘It being the Lord’s day, there could be no going 
out that day. I was erercised in the forenoon, and Mr. 
Maud in the afternoon.” And so everywhere, when he 
had occasion to speak of his preaching. He had been 
inwardly taught in such a manner, that he could have 


no idea of good and effectual preaching, except so far as 
_ the preacher was himself first inwardly exercised ; that 


is to say, taught by an inward and divine inspiration. 
And I find this sentiment everywhere embodied in the 
language and the history of other holy men, who, at the 
same period, took their lives in their hands, and settled 
in the wilderness. Their strength was not in them- 
selves. heir lives, their works, are an evidence. What 


_ but a God, in-dwelling in the soul, and ““exercisins” 


them,” as they expressed it, in the centre of their being, 
could have inspired the adventurous thoughts in the 
minds of those praying pilgrims, and have given strength 
to their mighty purpose ? * 

The most successful and favored perisds in the his- 


284 UNION WITH GOD. 


tory of all denominations of Christians, will illustrate 


and confirm these views. ; 
9, It is such preaching, we doubt not, which is des- 
tined more and more to characterize the latter days. As 


men are gradually brought into a closer alliance with ‘ 


God, as with their own consent they yield themselves 


to be watered from the everlasting fountain, the issues 
from their souls will be life to others, because they will 
have life in themselves. As the life which they have | 


in themselves is life from God, it is light as well as 
life; that is to say, it is enlightenment, or truth. The © 
true life always expresses the truth. The truth is 
written upon it, just as a falsehood is written upon 4 h 
false life; and, being written there, it is read and © 
known of all men. ‘The man who has the true life in : 
him, harmonizes with providence, with God, and with — 
all true and good things. Not only his words, but his— 
actions, are truths. Not only his daily talking of God 
and of divine things is a sermon, but his daily walk- 
ing with God is equally a sermon. He is a preacher by ; 
divine right; “‘ teaching like one having authority, and 
not as the Scribes,’—not going before he is sent, but : 
tarrying at Jerusalem, like the primitive disciples, until f 


he is “ endued with power from on high.”* 


* Luke 24: 49. 


CHAPTER V. 


OF UNION WITH GOD IN THE OBSERVANCE AND THE DUTIES 
OF THE SABBATH. 


Introductory remarks. — Objected to the observance of the Sabbath, 
that all days are equally holy.— Explanations of this view and 
answer to it.— Of the rest and peace of the Sabbath. — Of the 
Spiritual benefits of the Sabbath. — Union with God implies union 
with him in the support of this day. 


Tose designs of mercy, which God entertains tow- 
ards our fallen race, will be carried on, in part at least, 
in connection with the Christian Sabbath. And those, 
who codperate and are united with God, will cheerfully 
recognize the day, and harmonize in its great purposes. 
It is not our object, however, to enter into the subject of 
the original establishment of the Sabbath, nor of the 
change of the Sabbath from the seventh to the first day 
_ of the week; nor to enter into the examination of some 
other topics, which are ordinarily connected with it. 
We introduce the subject here for the purpose of consid- 
ering it in another aspect. . 

2. It is something worthy of notice, amongst the re- 
markable things of the present time, that the Christian 
Sabbath, contrary to what would be the natural expect- 
ation in the case, is attempted to be set aside by persons 
who have a respect for religion, and appear to be persons. 
of true benevolence and piety. Some of them make 


286 UNION WITH GOD. 


high claims to holiness of heart. ‘The holiness of their — 
hearts, as they understand it, has made all things holy. — 
Their work is holy; their rest is holy; their recreations — 
are holy ; — everything they do, while the heart is hols 
partakes of the character of the source or motive from m 
which it proceeds. No one day, therefore, can be more 
holy to them than another. The Sabbath is on a foot- 
ing with other days. All days are alike. 

This is the general train of their thought and reason — 
ing. And it cannot be doubted, I think, that there is tb 
not only a degree of plausibility, but a portion of real — 
truth in these views. 4 

3. It is true, in a certain sense undoubtedly, that alll 
days, considered in reference to the subject of holiness, ; 
are alike. It would be absurd to suppose, that, while ~ 
we are required to conform to holiness on one day, we : 
are at liberty to deviate from it, in some degree, on ~ 
another. It is true, therefore, that all days should be © 
kept as holy as the Sabbath, And in this respect, and 
so far as this, all days are and ought to be alike. 

But it ought to be particularly remembered, while we ~ 
admit that the requisition of holiness attaches itself to_ 
all days alike, and that one day is not and cannot bel 
more holy than another; that they are alike by sameness ; 
of dispositions, and “vi by similarity of outward acts. 
They are alike to us, and are made alike in God’s view, — 
not by doing the same thing every day, but by doing — 
that which is appropriate to the day. Time, in itself — 
considered, is not holiness, nor can it be the subject of — 
holiness. It is not possible that one day, in itself con- 
sidered, should be more holy than another; but holiness — 
consists in being and doing 2m time just that thing which — 
is appropriate to the time. 'The law of God requires us 
to do everything with a holy heart every day, on other, 


i 


UNION IN THE WORK OF REDEMPTION. 287 


days of the week as well as on the Sabbath, and not 


more on the Sabbath than on other days. But this is a 
very different thing from doing or allowing the same 
thing to be done every day. The only true expression, 
therefore, the only true law, is, Do that which is appro- 
priate to the time. Any known and deliberate violation 
of this law is sin; and cannot be otherwise than sin. 

4. We are to do on the Sabbath day that which is 
appropriate to it. But it must be very obvious that the 
appropriateness of our acts can never be ascertained, 
independently of a regard to what takes place around 
us. ‘The recurrence of the Sabbath, in consequence of 
what are understood to be the laws of God in the case, 
and of the general consent of all Christian nations, has 
the effect to stop the ordinary operations of life, and to 
hush the world to comparative peace ;——Sso that there is 


_a rest from physical labor, an opportunity to recover 
from undue exhaustion, and a season for moral and re- 


ligious reflection and worship. It is a season, especially 
in the present condition of the human race, of immense, 


of incalculable importance. If, therefore, my recreation 


or my labor on the Sabbath day breaks in upon the 
general harmony, and disturbs the rest, the contempla- 


_ tions, and the worship of my neighbor, and thus does a 
“Serious injury to himself and his family, it is clearly 


mappropriate to the day. It isa violation of what is due 
from man to man, and is a sin. 
5. Consider, further, if the Sabbath or Lord’s day is 


_ the day for man to rest in, and that, in the cessation from 
_ his ordinary labors, he may receive and be nourished by 


the truth, it is the day also for God to work in, in order 
that the truth may be communicated. God has a great 


message for his rebellious people; the message of life - 


through his Son. But on the other days of the week, 


288 UNION WITH GOD. 


when their hands and their hearts are occupied with | | 
other things, it is difficult to obtain a hearing. It is on — 
the Sabbath day, especially and emphatically, that this 


great message 1S communicated ; a message which 


involves in its results, not orily the salvation of the soul, — 


but equal rights among men, the emancipation of the 


enslaved, the cessation of war, the progress of humanity 
and civilization, and universal brotherhood. All other 


forms of legitimate emancipation are necessarily involved 


in the emancipation of the soul from guilt and sin. De- 


stroy the Lord’s day, and you necessarily close the com- 
munications of God, which have relation to these great 
objects. You close the communications, because you 
take away the necessary opportunities for hearing them. 


He, therefore, who does anything on the Sabbath, which 


tends to interrupt the communication between God and 
men, by perplexing the operations of him who speaks, 
or by diverting the attention of those who listen, does 
that which is inappropriate to the day. 


6. The Sabbath is, in some respects, the great, the» 


cheering hope of the human race. It is emphatically 
the day of the poor, the suffering, the enslaved, the pris- 


oner. Without it, the poor man would scarcely have 


hope; laboring, as he would then be obliged to do, 
without cessation, and yet without additional emolu- 
ment; —the slave, who experiences rest, and receives 


instruction on this day, would find his state of bondage 


more trying and distressing than ever; —the ignorant 


man, who greatly needs knowledge, would find many 


important avenues of knowledge closed to him; and the 


evils and sufferings which afflict our race would be, in 


various ways, greatly increased. 


7. We may, perhaps, admit that the Sabbath, consid- 


ered in its relations to the human race, was made for 


Se = 


UNION IN THE WORK OF REDEMPTION. 289 


- the unholy rather than for the holy. That is to say, the 


holy man, who has a perpetual Sabbath in his soul, 
could, perhaps, do without it, while the unholy man 


~eould not. But then it is to be remembered, that no man 


| can properly be regarded as a truly religious or holy per- 
gon, who has not a disposition to codperate with God. 


Our great business is, to stand in union with him, who 
here and everywhere unfolds our destiny. If, therefore, 
it is the design of God to benefit men, especially the 
degraded and the sinful, through the medium of the 
Sabbath, it is justly expected of all who regard God’s 
will and are like him, that they will observe and honor 
the Sabbath day. 'They cannot be united with him in 
spirit, without being united with him in the observance 
of this important institution; sympathizing in its objects, 
fulfilling its duties, and rejoicing in the hopes it inspires. 
25 


CHAPTER VI. 


OF UNION WITH GOD IN THE REDEMPTION AND SANCTIFICA- 
TION OF THE FAMILY. 


Definition of home. — The home of all beings ascertained by a law of 
nature. — Is found in the harmony or union of two beings in one. — 
Reference to the law of adaptation and union in the vegetable world. 
— Reference to the same law in its application to the lower animals. 
— Of the principle of union in moral beings. — The subject illus- 
trated from the nature of the Godhead. — View given in the Scrip- 
tures. — Remarks suggested by the subject. 


" 


WE proceed now, in the natural order of these inqui- 
ries, from the individual to the family. Holiness does 
not annul, or even alter, the laws of nature, but only 
restores and perfects their action. And, accordingly, we 
shall be united with our heavenly Father in the great 
work of restoring and perfecting the family, when we 
endeavor to ascertain and to aid in the fulfilment of the 
intentions of nature. 

We begin our remarks, therefore, by saying, that every 
being must have its home. By home, we do not mean 
simply a locality, a place of residence. ‘The man, who 
-'s banished from his native land, and is confined to some 
rocky isle in the ocean, has his locality, but it is not his 
home. If it is so, why does he so often cast his stream- 
ing eye over the broad ocean, as if to catch the glance 
of some other land? Home, therefore, in being some- 


i 
Pan 
aay 


UNION IN THE WORK OF REDEMPTION. 291 


thing more than simple locality, is that locality where 
the affections find their centre and are at rest. 

2. And we may add further, that the home of every 
class of beings, excluding all idea of uncertainty and 
vagrancy, is ascertained and fixed by a law of nature. 
It would be unreasonable to suppose that the origin, or 
the position, or the physical habits, or the enjoyments, of 
any beings, especially in their regular or normal state, 
are accidental. On the contrary, all beings have their 
sphere or circle of life; a sphere definite, wisely ad- 
justed, and perfect. And this is not all. Every sphere, 
embracing as it does various and multiplied capacities 
and opportunities of action, has its centre. And that 
centre, in being constituted by a divine arrangement, and 
with the divine approbation, may be said to harmonize 
with the divine and infinite centre. And, accordingly, 
harmonizing as it does both with God and with the facts 
and incidents of its own sphere of life, it is the place, 
and the only place, where the highest happiness of cre- 
ated beings is realized. It is the place, therefore, in 
distinction from all others, and above all others, which 
constitutes their HOME. 

3. That home or centre, of which we now speak, will 
always be found to be,—certainly. in the case of all 
moral beings, —the harmony or union of two iu one. 
The permanent coming together, the ccmsolidation, if we 
may so speak, of two natures existing in the same 
sphere of life, constitutes not merely the place of meet- 
ing, but the place of affectional rest and happiness. ‘The 
true domicil of all sentient and moral beings, therefore, 
is the domicil, the home of the heart, whenever and 
wherever the heart is at rest. And that place of rest is 
ascertained and verified by that union of two in one 
which has just been mentioned. And, accordingly, it 


292 UNION WITH GOD. 


may be said of all moral and accountable beings, that 


they are at home and are happy in being united, first, 


with the divine or infinite centre, which is God; and 
then, in being perfectly united, under the divine direc- 
tion, with other correspondent or mated beings in the 
same sphere of life; —a union, which may be described 
as the local or finite centre, namely, the centre in rela- 
tion to:the species or class of beings to which they 
belong. And until they attain this central position in 
their own sphere of life, a centre which corresponds to 


and harmonizes with the divine or infinite centre; in 


other words, until they reach this home of the heart’s 
rest in love, there is always a desire which is not satis- 
fied, always a yearning of the spirit which is not met, a 
deep and painful want of completed bliss. 

Such is the truth of nature in this matter. Such is 
the truth of God, who in the book of nature has every- 
where written truths which are eternal. And, according- 
ly, the family institution, which has so close a connec- 
tion with the interests and hopes of humanity, has an 
everlasting basis. 

4. Of this great truth we have some shadowings 
forth, some feeble disclosures, in the lower creation. It 
would hardly be out of place to say that we have an 
intimation of it even in the arrangements of the vege- 
table kingdom. The botanist is unable to develop his 
science without making reference to distinctions, combi- 
nations and results, which remind one of the relations 
of a higher state of existence. The trees and the flow- 
ers have their correspondences, their attractions. A poet 
of no mean name has sung the ‘Loves of the Plants.’’* 

5. Still more striking and decisive are the evidences of 
the natural and permanent relationships of love, which 


* Dr. Darwin. 


SS = 


i | 
UNION IN THE WORK OF REDEMPTION. 293 


are furnished by the animal kingdom. In how many 
tribes of animals the instinct of love seeks, with unerring 
perseverance, its corresponding relationships! And when 
those, which are fitted and are destined for each other, 
have established their companionship, how delightful 
and even affecting is their unity in labor, in suffering, 
and in joy! ‘Their nest, or cavern, or excavation in the 
earth, becomes to them a home, hallowed by the ties of 
a reciprocal or correspondent nature, sustained by un- 
changing fidelity, and undisturbed by foreign intrusions. 

Never does the bird of the mountains dwell in his dis- 
tant and wild home without a companion. Wherever 
he goes, he cannot separate himself from the instincts of 
union. Another bird of the mountains sits by his side 
on the dark and solitary cliff, which human eye has, 
perhaps, never visited. ‘They build their nest by a com- 
mon labor; and their young, born from the attractions 
of a two-fold nature, are fed by a care which love will 
not permit to be divided. 

6. But this principle of reciprocal adaptation, and of 
union founded upon it, is more fully developed and per- 
fected in moral beings. 

I take it for granted as a first and indisputable princi- 
ple, that happiness must be the result of a divinely 
ordered and perfect constitution of things. It is true, as 
we have had frequent occasion to say, thr t love is, and 
must be, the life; that is to say, the central and mov- 
ing principle of such a divine constitution. But love is 
not necessarily free from sorrow ; — although it must be 
admitted, that true happiness cannot exist without love. 
The love, which good men have to erring aud fallen sin- 
ners, is necessarily more or less mixed with grief. This 
being the case, the question naturally arises,.— When 
can a truly holy or love being be said to be a happy 

25* 


. * 
294 UNION WITH GOD. 


being ; — not only happy, but enjoying happiness in the 


highest degree? This is a question, which it is obvious- * 


ly necessary to solve, in ascertaining the true constitution 
of an-order of moral beings. ‘That is to say, it is neces- 
sary to answer the question, — Under what circum- 
stances can the highest happiness be secured to such an 
order of beings? And the answer, as it seems to us, is 
this. A moral being is happy in the highest degree, when 
it meets with another being, constituted on the same prin- 
ciples of holy love; and meets with it under such cir- 
cumstances as to behold the unspeakable beauty of its 
own benevolent nature reflected back upon itself in the 
mirror of the other’s loving heart. Seeing itself in 
another, and therefore, feeling another in itself, it not 
only recognizes but realizes, by the necessities of its 
nature, the eternal law of unity. 

A love being, that is to say, a being, whose central 
principle of movement is holy love, cannot see its own 
love, because it is the nature of holy love to turn its 
eyes from itself, and to see the wants, and to seek the 
good, of another. But being unable to see itself in itself, 
when it sees and recognizes itself imaged forth in the 
bright heart and countenance of another, it seeks the 
company of such a being by a natural impulse, and re- 
joices in it “ with joy unspeakable.” In other words, the 
issues of perfect happiness are from the meetings and 
unions of true or pure love. It is not merely soul meet- 
ing soul; but the divine rushing into the arms of the 
divine. ‘Stated in still other terms, the happiness of love 
consists, more than in anything else, in seeing the face of 
love. 'This is the philosophy, not more of the true joy of 
earth, than it is of the true.joy of heaven. 

7. If these views are correct, they are applicable to all 
moral beings. They are applicable to man ;—and with 


UNION IN THE WORK OF REDEMPTION. 295 


appropriate modifications which do not vitiate the princi- 
ple at the bottom of them, they are applicable to angels, 
and to all other classes and orders of moral existences. 
There seems, then, to be a just and adequate foundation 
for the doctrine, of which we find some intimations and 
glimpses from time to time in experimental writers, that 
all holy beings have their correspondences. ‘That is to 
say, they have other beings in the same rank of existence, 
who, in their physical, though purified and perfected, 
nature, in intellect and affections, and also in provi- 
dential position, correspond to their own necessities, and 
which constitute, therefore, the completion or comple- 
ment of their physical part, and of their perceptions and 
loves. In these different personalities, which are des- 
tined in their appropriate time to form a completed unity, 
there is the same central principle of movement or action, 
namely, holy love. Under the inspiration of this central 
power, they continually move from object to object, 
among the various objects and beings which are present- 
ed to them in their appropriate sphere of life; dispensing 
love to others, and receiving love in return; but, still, 
feeling that the wants of their inward being are not fully 


satisfied until their equal and mated spirit, the corre- 


spondence and complement of themselves, is revealed. to 
them. Then, under the attractions of mutual love, 
which is wiser and stronger than mere arbitrary and 
positive law, they unite together;—and they do it under 
such circumstances that it is not possible to separate 
them. They thus fulfil the pwiposes of their Maker; 
and realize in time a marriage, which, in spirit and 
essence, is eternal. Made and mated to each other, their 
thoughts flow in the same channel; the pulsation of one 
heart is the pulsation of the other; in the fulfilment of 


the divine will they become acquainted with and enjoy 
; 


296 UNION WITH GOD. 


the various works of God within the limits of their 
sphere of being; they have a common purpose, a com- 
mon happiness, a common life. 

8. The Godhead itself, mysterious and unsearchable 
as it is, is the fore-shadowing, the antetype of the fami- 
ly. Man is said to be created in the divine image ; but 
the combined man, which constitutes the family, far 
more than the solitary man or woman, is the true image 
of God. And the reason is, ‘‘ God is love.” Andif he is 
so, then there must have been an eternal Beloved. Other- 
wise, he would have been the most miserable of beings. 
Absolute solitude is inconsistent with happiness. What 
could be more miserable than a being, the very essence 
of whose nature is love, without an object to meet and 
to satisfy its unalienable and mighty tendencies? And 
that object, to meet the ends for which it exists, must be 
as infinite as the love of which it is the subject. And 
if it must be infinite, because nothing short of infinite 
would be an appropriate object of the divine affections, 
it must also have been eternal, because otherwise the 
divine affection, through countless ages, would have had 
no object at all. And hence, there is, and must be, 
innate in the Godhead, the infinitely beloved, the Chosen 
and Anointed of the Father, the Eternal Word, the Im- 
manuel. But this duality of existence, which is consti- 
tuted into unity by the unchangeable bond of the affec- 
tions, cannot be perfectly happy except in some object, 
possessing a like infinity of character, which may be 
regarded, speaking after the manner of men, as “‘a pro- 
cession or emanation” from the two. And this re-pro- 
duction of itself, infinite in its nature, perfect in its love, 
and by “‘an everlasting generation,” constitutes and com- 
»letesthe adorable family of the Trinity. 

9. Man, created in the divine image, is male and 


UNION IN THE WORK OF REDEMPTION. 297 


female; and these two are one. And their united exist- 
ence, oes a new power from their union, multiplies 
and images itselfin a third, which is also a part of 
itself. It is man, therefore, in his threefold nature, — the 
father, the mother, and the child,— the beautiful trinity of 
the family, and yet so constituted that in man’s unfallen 
state it would never have suggested the idea of a weak- 
ened or discordant unity, —which may be regarded as the 
earthly representation, the visible, though dim, shadow- 
ing forth of the divine personalities existing in the unity 
of the Godhead. ‘The original type is in the infinite; 
but it is reproduced and reflected with greater or less 
degrees of distinctness in all orders of moral beings. 

10. If any, however, should suppose that these sug- 
gestions are not sufficiently based on facts and arguments, 
we do not wish to press them unduly upon their accept- 
ance.. Perhaps they have more weight with us, than 
they have with others ; — and we ask no other reception 
for them than that to which they are justly entitled. At 
the same time we cannot deny our own conviction, 
founded upon such considerations as we have been able 
to give to the subject, that the family relation, as it is 
recognized and-established in the New Testament, has 
its foundation in the nature of. things, and is eternal. 
This, it will be perceived, is a very different doctrine 
from that.which makes it a mere positive institution, 
founded upon arbitrary command. It will be conceded, 
I suppose, that God never mends his own work. His 
conceptions, founded upon, or rather involving, the fact 
of a knowledge and comparison of all possibilities of 
being and action, are always perfect. And, conse- 
quently, when we ascertain what his views and plans 
of things are, we ascertain that which is unchangeable. 

The idea of the family, namely, of duality in unity, 


298 UNION WITH GOD. 


reproducing itself in a third, which combines the image 
of both, is entitled, if we are correct in what has been 
said, to be regarded as a plan or arrangement of things 


which God has adopted as the best possible to be carried — 


out and realized. And if so, it bears the stamp of divine 
perpetuity, as well as of divine wisdom. 

11. It may be well to repeat and to keep in mind some 
of the leading principles, on which this conclusion is 
based. 

One is, that every being has its two-fold centre; first, 
its centre or home in God; second, its centre or home 
relative to its sphere of life;— the one corresponding 
to and harmonizing with the other. Another principle 
is, that the life of holy or unfallen beings is, and must 
be, holy love. It is this principle, which brings their 
powers into movement, and constitutes them active 
beings. A third principle is, that love, in whatever 
beings it may exist, must have an object. Being a prin- 
ciple which does not turn back and rest upon itself, but 
which always has a tendency to move outward, it can- 
not exist without having an object somewhere. A 
fourth is, that love, by its very nature, has an attractive 
as well‘as an emanative power. That is to say, while 
it goes out to others, it attracts others to itself. A fifth 


is, that the highest happiness of holy beings, drawn . 


towards each other as they are by the attractions of 
love, will be secured, and can only be secured, when 
they find objects perfectly correspondent to themselves. 
And it is only when they have experienced this com- 
pleted happiness, that they have found the true centre 
of their created sphere of life, and are at home. 

-And, accordingly, it will be found, as the laws of 
intelligence and feeling obviously require this state of 
things, that to every spiritual existence in the universe, 


UNION IN THE WORK OF REDEMPTION, 299 


though differently constituted and sustained in their dif- 
ferent spheres of life, there is, and must be, a corre- 
spondent spirit. 'The union of these two constitutes the 
highest happiness; a happiness which is never experi- 
enced in this degree, antecedent to such union. And 
this union, which thus results in the highest happiness, 
is indissoluble. ‘The moment that such beings are 
unveiled to each other as perfect correspondences, the 
mutual attraction, at once strengthened to its highest 
intensity, becomes irresistible; and the bond which binds 
them, stronger and more beautiful than clasps of gold, 
can never be rent asunder. 

In support of these views we might refer to other 
sources of argument, which are frequently adduced in 
discussions of this nature. An argument in support of 
the permanency of the family, as it is constituted among 
Christian nations, is frequently drawn from the fact, that 
the sexes are equal, or nearly equal, in number. The 
subject has been frequently argued, also, in connection 
with the instinctive tendencies of our nature, both men- 
tal and physical, which so universally impel men to 
domestic associations. Such considerations go to con- 
firm the views which have been taken; but they are so 
generally known, and so often referred to, that it is not 
necessary to dwell upon them here. 

12. But, looking now in another direction, the Scrip- 
tures, if we rightly understand them, furnish confirma- 
tion of the general principles which have been laid 
down. The Bible, in the primitive records on the subject, 
represents that man was created in God’s image. It 
also represents, that man and woman were one; and 
that woman was made from man ;— the two existing 
henceforth in a diversity, but correspondence of form, 
and with an unity of life. If the passages to which we 


300 UNION WITH GOD. 


refer, do not expressly state it, it is obvious that they 
naturally imply and involve the doctrine of correspond- — | 
ent or mated spirits, of duality in unity, to the exclu- — 
sion of all affections to others which are inconsistent 
with such unity. ‘There is a passage in the prophet 
Malachi, in reproof of the conduct of the Israelites, which 
throws some light upon this subject. 'The Israelites had 
become dissolute in principles and manners ;—a. state 
of things, which showed itself in violations of conjugal 
fidelity, and in frequent divorces. ‘The Lord,” says 
the prophet, “hath been witness between thee and the 
wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treach- 
erously; yet she is thy companion, and the wife of thy 
covenant. And did he not make one? Yet had he the 
residue of the Spirit. And wherefore one? ['That is to 


say, wherefore did he create one only? And the answer _ 


is,] that he might seek, [that is, prepare or secure to 
himself,] a@ godly seed. Therefore, [he adds,] take heed 
to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against 
the wife of his youth.” 


The passage is a decided and just reproof of those — | 
frequent violations of the true idea of the marriage — i 


state, which had crept in among the Israelites. God 
was offended; and the prophet gives the reason of it. — 
When God, in the beginning of things, had created 
man, he separated from him, in the moment of his a 
“deep sleep,” a part of his existence. And from that 
which he thus separated, he made the counterpart and 
completion of humanity in woman. He made one. In 
the language of the prophet, he had “ the residue of the 
spirit;” and therefore he might have made a greater 
number. But that perfect conception which he had of 
‘a moral constitution of things, and of the elements of 
moral happiness, did not allow of more than one. 


i 


UNION IN THE WORK OF REDEMPTION. 301 


_ It was necessary, being good and perfect in himself, 
that he should so create man, as to evolve or develop 
from his existence, so long as it continued an unper- 
verted existence, the highest possible degree of happi- 
ness. But perfect happiness cannot grow on the basis 
of a divided affection. It is only fulness of love, or 
love in the highest degree, —a state of mind which 
seems to be inconsistent with a multitude of objects of 
love, — that is crowned with fulness of bliss. And 
besides, that form or arrangement of the domestic con- 
stitution, which limits the central or highest affection to 
one, was foreseen to be most favorable, as we should 
naturally suppose it would be, and as the passage in 
Malachi implies, to the birth and training of a ‘‘ godly 
seed.”? Polygamy and concubinage, and still more 
other systems, which propose a yet wider and more 
vicious liberty, are obviously inconsistent with that 
degree of watchful care, and religious instruction, which 
is necessary in training up a seed or people for God. 
And I think it cannot be doubted that the perpetuation 
of a godly seed is one of the objects involved in the con- 
stitution of a moral order of beings. Holiness, like sin, 
has its law of origin, and its line of descent. 

13. Ata later period, the language of the Saviour is 
this: ‘The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting 
him, and saying unto him, Is it lawful for a man to put 
away his wife for every cause? And he answered and 
said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made 
them at the beginning, made them ae and female, and 
said, For this cause shall a man leave father and 
mother, and shall cleave to his wife; ana they twain 
shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, 
but one flesh. What, therefore, God hath joined together, 


‘let not man put asunder. 


26 


302 UNION WITH GOD. 


‘They said unto him, Why did Moses then command 
to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away? 
He saith unto them, Moses, because of the hardness of 
your hearts, suffered you to put away your wives; but 
Srom the beginning it was not so.”’* 

14. The form of the original institution, Sot DHBWOH 4 in 
infinite wisdom, was not only that of correspondent 
Spirits, of soul formed and mated to soul, but that of 
permanent as well as perfect union. 'Those facts of men- 
tal and providential correspondence, which led to the 
union in the first instance, necessarily involved and 
established its permanency. Various expressions in the 
New ‘Testament conform to and strengthen these views. 
Everywhere are denunciations uttered against the viola- 
tion of this bond of the heart. Everywhere are encour- 
agements uttered to the preservation of its purity, and 
the increase of its strength. ‘‘ Husbands,” says the 
apostle Paul, ‘love your wives, even as Christ also loved 
the church, and gave himself for it.”’+ These are re- 
markable expressions. Christ’s love is perfect. Christ’s 
love never changes. ‘The expressions of the apostle, 
therefore, harmonize well with the declaration of the 
Saviour, that in the beginning, the husband and wife 
were not allowed to be separated; that the union, when 
made in the truth, and as it ought to be, is of God, and 
that no human power has authority to rend it asunder. 

15. Without quoting any further from the Scriptures, 
we will only notice the fact, that God very frequently 
illustrates the strength of the love which is due to him, 
by references to conjugal love. He speaks of his people — 
as espoused to him. He repeatedly calls himself their 
husband. Speaking, for instance, of the rebellious Isra- 


* Mat. 19: 3. + Ephes. 5: 25. 


UNION IN THE WORK OF REDEMPTION. 303 


elites, he says, in a certain place, “they brake my 


covenant, although I was an husband unto them.’’* 
And he compares their unholy wanderings from him to 
the conduct and the crime of a wife, who violates the 
marriage obligation. Such illustrations and references, 
if they do nothing more, may properly be regarded as 
showing the estimation which our heavenly Father 
places upon conjugal love. If they do not directly 
assert as much, they certainly seem to imply, that ina 
truly holy and perfect state of things, husbands and 
wives would love each other with something of that 
sacredness and purity of affection with which God him- 
self is loved. | ; 

In other cases, he illustrates the relation he sustains to 
his creatures, by referring to the constitution of the 
family as it is presented to our notice in other respects. 
‘‘A son,” he says, in a certain place, ‘ honoreth his 
father, and a servant his master. If I then be a father, 
where is mine honor?’”’ And again it is said in another 
place, ‘‘As a father pitieth his children, so the Lord 
pitieth them that fear him.” And it is thus, in a multi- 
tude of instances, that the family illustrates the relations 
of God to man, and of man to God. And it is not sur- 
prising that references and illustrations of this kind 
should be so frequent. 'The family embodies the highest 
forms of truth, as well as of beauty. 

It is there that we see justice, which, standing alone, 


would smite and destroy, tempered with mercy. It is 


there that we see filial love sustained and heightened 
by reverence. It is there, especially, that we find illus- 
trations of the higher truths of religious experience. 
Where else do we find so fully exemplified the lesson of 
the nature and laws of pure love, as we find it in the 


* Jerem. 31: 32. 


304 UNION WITH GOD. 


family? 'The love which exists in the family, — the love 
which flows between those who, in different persons, 
constitute the unity of its head, — the love which flows 
from the parents to the children, and reciprocally from 
the children to the parents, —is so far divested of selfish- 
ness, even in the present injured and fallen state of 
things, as to give some idea, faint though it may be, of 
the pure love of a better world. And, in the true or holy 


family, that is to say, in the family where hearts are — 


first filled with the love of God and then of each other, 
we may be said to have the realization of heaven, as 
well as the idea of it. 

16. In connection with the general views which have 
been presented, a number of remarks remain to be made. 
And one is this: One of the results of the diffusion of 
holiness, and of the spirit of union with God, will be to 
recognize to every man and woman the right, not merely 
to a home, but to that best of all homes, the home of 
the heart. Much has been said, among social and politi- 
cal philanthropists, of the right of each man to a portion 
of land, a homestead; and, undoubtedly, there is a 
great religious, as well as social idea, at the bottom of 
this suggestion. But if man hasa right to a home for 


his body, much more has he a right toa home for his _ 


soul. His soul’s home is love. 'To love and to be loved, 
and in such a manner as to secure the highest happi- 
ness, is the sacred right of all moral beings; and the 
obstructions which exist in the present state of society 
to this desirable result, will gradually be removed. Such 
is obviously the design of Providence; and those who 
are united with God will aid in it. 

17. Another remark is this. The union of souls in 
the marriage state, like everything else, ought to be under 
the guidance of the Spirit of God. 'The first work, both 


UNION IN THE WORK OF REDEMPTION. 305 
4a 


of man and of woman, is the recovery of their own 


souls, their spiritual sanctification. Until this is done, 
they are not fitted, —certainly not in the full sense of 
the terms, — for anything else. And especially do they 
fail of being fitted for true mental union. 

In the present state of the world, and in the imper- 
fect condition of human things, it will often be the case, 
that those who are brought into the marriage state by 
human arrangements, and under the forms of human 
law, have not been united by spiritual attraction. Such 
marriages cannot be happy;—certainly not in the 
highest degree. It will be very different, in proportion 
as holiness advances in the world. In a purified, or 
millennial state of the race, the first step towards the 
finite marriage will be the marriage union with the 
Infinite. This, as we have already intimated, is the 
first great work of man under all circumstances; a work 
which cannot be superseded by any other; and without 
which no other can be perfectly done. When the soul 
is once united with God, it becomes the smbject of the 
divine guidance; and while it loves all, and seeks the 
good of all, it enters into the state of perfect union only 
with that soul which develops most perfectly corre- 
sponding traits of character. The instinct of holiness 
will lead together kindred hearts; and the truth of 
spiritual union will take the place of the falsehood and 
misery of that union which merely allies the body 
without the union of the mind. 

18. A further remark, closely connected with what 
has just been said, is this. If the views which have 
been presented are correct, one of+the results of God’s 
great work which is now going on in the world, will be, 
to raise and perfect woman’s position and character. 
The darkest page in human history is that of the treat- 

é 26* : 


> 


306 UNION WITH GOD. 
. 


ment of woman. Oppressed by man’s depravity, injured. 
in her most sacred affections, — the slave of man instead 
of his companion,— she has edewed the earth with tears, 
and has had consolation only in that faith in God, which 
‘is appropriate to her confiding nature. But when, in 
the progress of divine truth, it is understood that man 
cannot fulfil his own destiny, and is not the completion 
of himself without her,—in other words, when, by 
being restored to God, he is restored to himself, — he 
will also be restored to that which is a part of himself; 
and will thus perfect, in completed unity, what would 
otherwise necessarily remain in the imperfection of an 
undeveloped and partial nature. 

And, in connection with the accomplishment of this 
desirable end, nothing is to be considered as unimportant 
which in any way tends to secure it. And this leads to 
the remark, that female education, considered in its 
religious aspects, is one of the great works of God, 
which.will more and more characterize the coming ages. 
A general conviction on this subject is beginning to be 
felt; but it must be admitted that the way in which 
this conviction, and the hopes involved in it, are to be 
realized, is not well understood. And, accordingly, 
educational efforts for the improvement of the intellect 
are out of proportion to those which are designed for the 
improvement of the heart. What we need now, and 
what the designs of God upon our race require us to 
have, are seminaries, in which all necessary sciences and. 
literatures shall be attended to, but in which it shall be 
understood and taught, at the same time, that the first 
and indispensable knowledge is that of repentance and 
salvation through Christ, and of sanctification by the 
zonstant indwelling and guidance of the Holy Ghost. 
fn other words, we need seminaries in which the educa- 


% 
UNION IN THE WORK OF REDEMPTION. 307% 


tion of the female heart in holiness shall take the prece- 
dence of all other forms of education. 

19. A fourth remark, in connection with the views 
which have been presented, is this. In the progress of 
religion in the world, it may reasonably be expected that 
the power of God will be especially manifested in fami- 
lies. Each household, linked together by peculiar and 
strong ties, will constitute practically a church of God. 
The holy man, at the head of his family, stands forth in 
a special sense the representative of his heavenly F'ather. 
Such is the peculiar nature and the importance of his 
position, that he speaks, if he is a man of true religion, 
with an authority which belongs to no other. He isa 
priest, —not, indeed, by the forms of earthly ordina- 
tion, — but still a priest, like Christ himself, by the inspi- 
ration of God, and after the ‘‘ order of Melchisedek.” 
It is from him and through him, if he sets a good 
example, and fulfils his office of teacher or priest of his 
household, that the child obtains, more distinctly than in 
any other way, his first ideas of our Father in heaven. 


F And then add to the example and influence of the 


father, that of the mother, (for the father is not the com- 
pleted or perfect man without the mother, ) — an mfluence 
so gentle, so constant, so effective, — and it will be diffi- 
cult to exaggerate the importance of the family constitu- 
tion, considered in its relation to human virtue and hap- 
piness. 

Tam reminded, in these remarks, of a passage in the 
beautiful poem of the Cotter’s Saturday Night : — 


‘Then, kneeling down to heaven’s eternal King, 
The saint, the father, and the husband prays ; 
Hope springs exulting on triumphant wing, 
That thus they all shall meet in future days : — 
‘There ever bask in uncreated rays, 


308 UNION WITH GOD. 


No more to sigh, or shed the bitter tear, 
There ever hymning their Creator’s praise, 
In such society, yet still more dear, 
While circling time moves round in an eternal sphere.” 


Within a few days, and since commencing the writing 
of these remarks, an incident has come to my knowledge, 


which illustrates the subject. A young man not far _ 


distant, having arrived at an age when it seemed to be 


proper for him to do so, left his father’s house to engage 


in some business in another place. He was soon exposed 
to unforeseen temptations, and fell into great sin. He 
not only sinned, but became hardened and desperate in 


sin. His friends followed him, reasoned with him, en- — 


treated him, but all in vain. The victory of the great 
adversary, who had entangled him in his toils, seemed 
to be complete. They then made one request ; — that, 
fixed and desperate as he was in his vicious course, he 
would so far yield to the common claims of humanity as 
to visit once more his father’s house, and permit his aged 
parents to look upon him before they died. It was with 
sreat reluctance that he consented. As he came back, 


the home of his youth rose before him. The fields, a 


where he had wandered in the delightful days of child- 


hood, expanded in his sight ;— beautiful in themselves, 
but, alas, how changed to him, who had lost the mirror _ 
of beauty in his own darkened heart! All received him A 
with those unaffected tokens of benevolent interest, — : 
which are the natural language of love. ‘There were 

no reproofs, no remonstrances. They understood that — 


he came back professedly a sinner, — and a sinner by 
choice. And having already exhausted their efforts for 


his recovery, they had no courage to do or say anything | | 


more. 


Accordingly, the day of his return passed away with- 


UNION IN THE WORK OF REDEMPTION. 309 


out any visible signs of penitence and returning union. 
And yet he was a son and a brother. The bright sun 
went down over the hills; and the various members of 
the family, resting from their labors, shared in each 


other’s society. At the usual hour in the evening, they 


gathered around the domestic hearth, as had ever been 
their custom, that they might pray together, and mingle 
their hearts in penitence and faith, in the presence of their 
Maker, before they slept. ‘The father read the Bible, 
and prayed; and they sang their evening hymn. ‘This 
affecting scene, that Bible which had warned and in- 
structed his childhood, a parent’s supplication, that 
sacred song in which brothers and sisters joined, the 
presence of so many beloved objects, the peace and puri- 
ty of the dear and sacred heaven of home, presented in 
contrast with the wretchedness and sin of the scenes to 
which he had recently been accustomed, broke the bar- 
rier of his rebellious spirit; the tears of true penitence 
and. love fell from his eyes; and he was rendered doubly 
happy by being restored, at the same time, to the centre 
of affections in God, and the centre of affections on 
earth. 

20. Among other things which are suggested in con- 
nection with the general topic under consideration, it 
may properly be added here, that these views aid us in 
rightly estimating the laws of the affections. Every- 
thing has its nature. Of course, everything has its 
laws, not excepting the passion or affection of love. 

The original, or first centre of love, is God. From 
this great and divine centre, it flows out and embodies 
itself in other centres. Love, as it exists in God, is like 
the ocean. The ocean is the great centre of waters. It 
always retains its central position; but, at the same 
time, it diffuses itself everywhere ; — forming other sub- 


310 UNION: WITH.-GOD. 


ordinate centres, in plains, and on mountain tops, in — 


fountains and in lakes, from which issue.a multitude of — 


streams and rivulets, giving life and beauty. In like 
manner, the great ocean of love in the Godhead empties 


itself into subordinate centres, which are in harmony — 


with itself, and which, in imitation, as it were, of the — 
ereat centre, and being, in fact, but continuations of the 
ebbings and flowings of the great central ocean, send 


out their waters of life to all within their sphere of 
movement. 

The central love, then, in the sphere of human life, is 
in the family. From the family, where it is kept full 
from the great centre in the Godhead, it flows out to the 


neighborhood, the state, and the world. If it is full and 


beneficent at the source, it will be full and beneficent 
in its issues; and not otherwise. ‘Truth, like beauty, 
always harmonizes with itself. ‘Truth, in the centre of 
the affections, will always secure a right or true move- 
ment. He, who is not true to his father and mother, 


his wife and children, his brother and sister, being false — 


at the centre, is not, and cannot be, true to his neighbor- 
hood, his nation, and mankind. How is it possible for 
him to be true in his affections, when the truth of affec- 


tion is not in him? And besides, if it were possible | 
that his love, or rather the pretence of love, could be | 


given, it would be hardly possible that it could be 


received. Both the state and humanity would instinct-_ 


ively reject an offering which is false at the core. 
21. Again, this subject throws light upon the discus- 


sions which are now held in different parts of the world 


on the subject of social redrganization. ‘These discus- 
sions, which already shake society to its basis, are of im- 


df 


mense consequence. ‘The intellectual ability which has ' 


oeen brought to them is of the highest order; and it has 


UNION IN THE WORK OF REDEMPTION, 3l1l 


_ been sustained, in many cases, by a life of benevolence 
_ and self-sacrifice. Willing as we are to do justice to the 


ability, and the good motives of those who agitate these 
_ great problems, it is obviously the duty of the friends of 


humanity to give a careful attention to their movements, 
and to prevent if possible the introduction of error. We 
are ready to give credit for many good suggestions, 
which will, in due time, produce their appropriate fruits. 
But it has attracted the painful notice of many true friends 
of human progress, that propositions have been started, 


| from time to time, which affect the existence of tiie 


family. 

To build up society by: the abolition of the family 
seems to the Christian a strange idea. This is not to 
reorganize and to improve society, but to destroy it. As 
Christians, we are bound to do everything, and, what is 
more, we shall love to do everything, which will tend to 
improve the condition, and to increase the happiness, of 


our fellow-men. But we cannot throw away the Bible; 


— we cannot violate the first principles of Christianity, 
especially when they are confirmed by sound reasoning, 
have their signatures and proofs in the affections, and 
are strengthened by the lessons of all history. 'T'o 
injure the family by bringing its claims into doubt, by 
diminishing its purity, or weakening its authority, is to do 
an injury to society in general. Law, order, the state, 
intellectual improvement, morals, everything, would fall 
with the family. And it would so, because the family 
is of God; and nothing which is of God can be shaken 
out of ita position, or be lost, without causing the most 
disastrous results. 

22. What has now been said leads to another remark, 
in some degree connected with it. Some persons sie 
supposed, (we hardly know upon what grounds, ) that 


312 UNION WITH GOD. 
in the approaching and perfected period of the church,’ — 
which is conveniently denominated the millennial period, — 
the family institution, admitted by these persons to be : 
necessary until that time, will then be dispensed with. © 
If this view were correct, it would be of but little im-_ 
portance to contend against those erroneous efforts for 
the immediate redrganization of society, to which we — 
have just now referred. 

Perhaps the idea of the millennial extinction of the 
family has arisen from the imperfections, the sorrows, 
and the sins, which now attend it. But, it is hardly 
necessary to say, it is unsound reasoning, which con- 
demns a good thing, especially if it be a great good, on 
account of the perversions to which it is sometimes 
liable. Undoubtedly the imperfections and perversions, 
with which the family is now surrounded, are all des- | 
tined to cease in that better period ; — but it seems to us, © 
that nature, reason, and the Scriptures, all point to the 
conclusion, that the thing itself, the substance of the 
institution, will remain. Any other view would, of 
course, deprive the mind of a centre of love and of spir- 
itual rest in its appropriate sphere of life; and leave it 
under the necessity of wandering from object to object, — 
of gratifying momentary impulses, of seeking rest and 
finding none. Such a view presents to us a state of 
things made worse, instead of being improved; —a 
reduction from a higher and holier state to one less per- 
fect ; — in other words, a millennium retrograde. 

We admit that sin has obscured the ideal of the fami-_ 
ly, as it existed and as it still exists in the mind of God. 
. We know, very well, that the family does not now pre- 
sent its true aspect. But if it is true that the divine 
neauty of the original conception is greatly marred, it 


UNION IN THE WORK OF REDEMPTION. 313 


_is also true that,its brightness will be restored with the 
extinction of the sin which has obscured it. 

23. We conclude these views of this important sub- 
ject with a single remark further. It seems to follow 
from what has been said, (and the view, we think, 
might be supported from other sources,) that the social 
principle will be sustained in full exercise in heaven. It 
seems to us that the law of sociality, out of which spring 
families and societies, is universal and eternal. It would, 
perhaps, not be too much to say, that the perfect develop- 
ment of the social principle constitutes heaven; — and 
that, on the other hand, perfect isolation, which is the 
complete or perfected result of selfishness, constitutes 
hell. It is a great mistake, as the matter presents itself 
to our apprehension, to suppose that heaven is a solitary 
place; and much more that it is so spiritualized as to 
be a mere abstraction,—a place without locality, an 
existence without form, a form without beauty. Heaven 
has far more substance in it, than such shadowy concep- 
tions would seem to imply. Heaven is not the extinc- 
tion of existence, nor the mere shadow of existence, but a 
higher and purer state of existence; the growth and per- 
fection of that, of which we have the obscure idea in 
the present life. 

And, accordingly, reasoning from the identity of truth, 
which is the same above as it is below, we cannot hesi- 
tate in saying, that love is the life of heaven, as it is of 
earth. And such is the nature of love, that it must have 
objects there, as it has here. It must have its laws 
there, as it has here. It must have its great centre and 
also its subordinate centres there, as it has here. It must 
fulfil its own ends and.grow up into society there, as it 
does here. T'o be in heaven, and not to be in the exer- 
aise of love, is a contradiction. Angels have their loves; 

27° 


“t 


314 UNION WITH GOD. 


—and heaven, if they were not allowed to exercise their 
benevolent affections there, and to group themselves 
together in bright clusters, in accordance with the consti- 
tutive and eternal laws of moral beings, would cease to 
be heaven to them, and would become a place of sorrow. 
And it is one of the consolations which God allows us 
in the present state, in being permitted to believe that 
the wants of the heart here will be met and solaced 
hereafter; —that those suffering, but holy, ones, who 
have been smitten and robbed in the rights of the affec- 
tions here, will find kindred spirits, (celestial stars, as it 
were, reflecting their own brightness,) who will meet 
and embrace them, and will wipe away their tears at 
the threshold of the New Jerusalem. 


\ 


CMe TER Vv iT. 


OF UNION WITH GOD IN THE WORK OF CIVIL AND NATIONAL 
REDEMPTION. 


The consideration of the family naturally followed by that of society in 
general. —Of the two forms of society, namely, Internal and Exter- 
nal. — Internal society the same with civil society. — External the 
same with international society. — Civil or internal society can be 
perfected only in proportion as God becomes the lawgiver of it. — Of 
the law of nations. — Defects in this law.—Its ultimate improve- 
ment and perfection.— Reference to the philanthropist, William 
Ladd. — Extract from a speech of Emile de Girardin. 


Ir may, perhaps, be thought, that too much time has 
been occupied in the consideration of the family. Such 
a suggestion would not be likely to be made on a full 
examination of all the facts in the case. The truth is, 
that the family, considered in the various aspects in 
which it presents itself, —its origin, its history, its perver- 
sions, its ennobling joys, its mighty influences, the neces- 
sity of protecting it, its gradual perfection, —might well 
occupy a volume, instead of a few pages. It is a sub- 
ject, whether we considér its intrinsic nature or the pecu- 
liar exigencies of the times, which is worthy of the most 
extended and able examination which can be given it. 
The true principles of the family, as well as the practice 
appropriate to them, its perpetuity as well as its high 
nature in other respects, ought to be well understood. 
In all these particulars, undoubtedly, an important work 


a 


316 UNION WITH GOD. 


is to be done. And God, intent upon the restoration of 


mankind to their original purity, has already begun it. 

Accordingly, it is one part of God’s great work, in the 
progress of redemption, to write the law of the family 
in all its parts still more deeply upon the human soul; 
and also to carry out this divine law practically by 
reconciling man and woman first to God, and then to 
each other, by reéstablishing marriage upon high relig- 
ious principles, so that God shall no longer be excluded 
from that which ought to be especially his own work, 
and “by turning the heart of the fathers to the children, 
and of the children to their fathers, lest he come and 
smite the earth with a curse.” * It is with these words 
that he closes the Old Testament;—a passage, which 
indicates what is involved in, and what is expected from, 
the New. If even now there is no name so sacred as 
that of home, it is destined, in the purifications of Chris- 
tianity, to be surrounded with still happier associations. 
The cloud, which has so long overshadowed it, shall be 
lifted from the domestic hearth. The bitter tear, which 
has so long fallen in secret, shall no longer be shed. 
There shall be light instead of darkness, and songs for 
mourning. 

With the few practical suggestions which have been 
made in the preceding chapter, we leave it to individuals 
to decide in what way, among the many methods of 
cooperation which present themselves, they shall labor 
in the advancement of this important object. And, 
accordingly, we proceed now to other parts of God’s 
great work of redemption, in which, all who have 
Christ’s spirit, and who sympathize with their heavenly 
Father as he did, are called upon to unite. 

2. Next in order after the society of the family, the 


* Malachi 4: 5. 


a 


UNION IN THE WORK OF REDEMPTION. 317? 


‘subject or human society, in its more general forms, 


naturally presents itself. In proportion as the influences 
of Christianity are more generally and fully felt, there 
will be a gradual restoration of human society in all its 
aspects ; — so that, while we cannot always foresee what 
precise form it will take, we may say, in general terms, 
that it will be made to harmonize perfectly with the 
principles of the Gospel. 

But in order fully to understand the subject now before 
us, it is proper to remark, that society may be contem- 
plated in two respects, namely, as Internal or External. 
Society, in its internal form, is society considered as con- 
sisting of men, who live within the limits of the same 
commonwealth, and under the same laws. So that 
society, regarded in its internal aspect, is the same thing 
with civil society. Society in its external form is soci- 
ety considered as consisting in the union of common- 
wealths with other commonwealths in the great society 
of nations. As the first may be called civil society, 
because it is the society of citizen united with citizen 
under the authority of the state; so the latter may be 
denominated international society, because it is the 
society of nation united with nation under the author- 
ity of the law of nations. 

3. Civil society, or society as it exists between man 
and man united together in the state, is very imperfect. 
It is true that the great law of progress, which insures 
the ultimate triumph of good over evil, has reached and 
beneficially affected the combined man of the state, as 
well as the man of the family, and the man individual. 
Men in various ages of the world, Solon, Lycurgus, 
Numa, among the legislators of antiquity, and other wise 
and benevolent men of later times, have endeavored to 
improve civil society; and their efforts have not been 

27* 


a 


318 UNION WITH GOD. 


without success. - But, after all that has been done, it is 
still attended with great imperfection. 

The imperfection of human society is the necessary 
result of the imperfection of those human laws which 
give it shape and sustain it. Human laws are imperfect 
for the simple reason, (at least it is not necessary to men- 
tion other reasons, ) that the human mind, which is the 
maker of human law, is not omniscient. Law is, or 
ought to be, the expression of perfect right. Conse- 
quently, there is and can be but one perfect lawgiver, 
namely, God himself. Man, by the very fact of his 
creation and dependence, is properly the subject of law, 
and not the author of law. It is one of the remarks of 
Hooker, the distinguished author of the work entitled 
‘“‘ Kcclesiastical Polity,” that the ‘seat of law is in the 
bosom of God.’ Consequently, if views and remarks 
of this kind are justly entitled to consideration, human 
law will be perfected, and human society, so far as it is 
sustained by law, will be perfected, just in proportion as 
the God of the universe descends and takes possession, 
and becomes the God of the human mind. When that 
is the case, law will be the expression of right; and it 


will not be more just and right in itself, than it will be 


just and right in its individual applications. 

4. It could hardly be expected, that, in suggestions 
necessarily so brief as these, we should undertake to indi- 
cate the nature or the degree of the social improvements 
that are destined sooner or later to be made. 'T'o one 
topic, however, it may be proper to refer in one or two 
remarks. In all times past, society, (with some excep- 
tions undoubtedly, but comparatively few,) has treated 
those who have offended against it, on the principles of 
strict justice, — returning ‘‘ blow for blow, and stripe for 
stripe.’ One of the results of the greater prevalence of 


UNION IN THE WORK OF REDEMPTION. 319 


the Gospel spirit will be, to mingle mercy with justice, 
and to save and bless the criminal, at the same time that 
all necessary measures are taken for the protection of 
society. Within a few years, benevolent men, in differ- 
ent parts of the world, have directed their attention to 
this important subject. ‘They have not been ashamed 
to have it understood that they have felt a deep interest 
in the situation of their erring and lost brethren, who 
have violated the rights of the state, — remembering that 
they themselves also are sinners. In the true spirit, 
as it seems to me, of our blessed Saviour, who would 
not and did not ‘‘break the bruised reed,” they have 
gone to the «prisoner; they have taken him by the 
hand; they have fed him, clothed him, instructed him. 
And while they have pressed upon him the necessity of 
repentance for sins committed, they have held up, at the 
same time, the joyous hope of sins forgiven. 

The result of the prevalence of this truly Gospel spirit 
will be gradually to modify the systems of civil and 
criminal jurisprudence. Love, founded upon faith, and 
never at variance with justice, will be recognized as a 
regulating principle in the conduct of the social body, as 
it is and ought to be in the conduct of the individual. 
Society, having faith in God, and in itself as an instru- 
ment of God, will no longer crush the criminal whom it 
holds in its grasp; but will show its confidence in its 
mighty strength, by mourning for those whom it con- 
demns, and by gently leading them back to truth, to 
duty, and to happiness. 

5. But society has its external, as well as its internal, 
form. Society, existing in the external form, is the soci- 
‘ety of nation united with nation. If society is not per- 
fected in itself, that is to say, in its civil or internal form, 
still less is it perfected in its external relations. Hach 


320. UNION WITH GOD. 


nation, existing as a corporate civil association, stands in 
a great degree by itself; recognizing but very imper- 
fectly that bond of international brotherhood, which 
should bind together nation with nation. One of its first 
principles is its relative independence; that is to say, 


while it recognizes in the general sense the principle of © 


union, it claims the right of judging of its own interests, 
and of deciding for itself in all cases. Consequently, 
there are frequent collisions. Massive and giant-like in 
its strength, but, like the sightless Polyphemus of the 
Grecian poet, nation, blinded by passion, dashes against 
its fellow-nation ; pee both are broken by the concussion, 
and are covered with blood. 

6. It is painful, to the pure and fully christianized 
mind, to read the history of nations. We need no argu- 
ment to establish the doctrine of the fallen condition of 
the human race, in addition to that of its history. Be- 
ginning with Herodotus and the other Greek historians 
of that period, and reading the records of mankind in 
the pages of eminent writers of different ages and coun- 
tries, what do we find but a series of sorrows and crimes, 
arising out of the struggles of national interest, and the 
antagonisms of national passion? In how many battle- 
fields has human right contested with human power, 
and strength gained the victory over justice! It is not 
without reason, therefore, that Cowper, whose beautiful 
poems have the merit of being infused with a Christian 
spirit, feelingly exclaimed, 


‘‘ Oh for a lodge in some vast wilderness, 
Some boundless contiguity of shade, 
Where rumor of oppression and deceit, 
Of unsuccessful or successful war, 
Might never reach me more !”’ 


UNION IN THE WORK OF REDEMPTION. 321 


It is the part of Christianity, in the fulfilment of the 
- great plan of redemption, to put an end to this state of 
things. Christ’s work on earth is not accomplished, and 
of course the work of his followers is not accomplished, 
so long as wars exist. Let it, therefore, be the language 
of every Christian heart, —language which shall find its 
issues in appropriate action, — that wars shall exist no 
longer. - 

7. And in this, as in other things, we have grounds for 
encouragement and hope. ‘The Gospel is like the _ little 
leaven, which leaveneth the whole lump; always oper- 
ating and always certain of securing its object, but not 
in a manner which attracts much notice. Operating in 
this gradual manner, the Christian religion has modified 
and improved the doctrines of international law. The 
principles which regulate the intercourse of nations, are 
different, in some important respects, from what they 
were a few centuries ago. And the difference shows the 
secret operation and influence of a religious sentiment. 

For instance, it was once a recognized principle in the 
laws of nations, that, if a merchant vessel were wrecked 
on a foreign coast, the wreck became the property of the 
occupants of the coast, although the real owners were 
living. It was an established principle also, not less un- 
just, that, if a person, resident in a foreign country, died 
there, his property, instead of descending to those whom 
he designed and wished to be his heirs, should be taken 
for the use and benefit of the country where he happened 
to be resident at the time of his death. It was also 
originally one of the laws of war, which make a part of 
the existing laws of nations, that the prisoners taken in 
the progress of a contest might be put to death. ‘The 
conqueror was regarded as possessing complete power 
over the captured; so that he could take away their 


322 UNION WITH GOD. 


lives, if he supposed their death would turn to more 


account than their preservation. But, in these andina 


number of other respects, the code of nations has been — 
very much improved. A more benevolent spirit now per- — 4 
vades it. But still, it must be admitted, that it is far 9 
from being what it should be. 3, 
8. Now, it may not be the duty of all Christians to | 
labor directly for the improvement of the code of nations, 


because Providence may not give to all the power and 


the opportunity to do so; but it belongs to Christianity, — 
— it is a part of the results of the Christian system, — — 
not only to improve, but to perfect it. Christianity, 
operating from the centre to the circumference, contem- a 
plates universal advancement. It raises all, —and 
raises all at the same time ;—not only the individual, 


but the family, the state, and the whole world as itis 


united together by the international code. a 

Every man, therefore, who fully possesses the Chris- 
tian spirit, and whom Providence permits to labor in that 
direction, will bear his part in this great work. His ‘ 
relations to God are such that he will necessarily contrib- e 
ute that mite or talent, whatever it may be, which is — 
appropriate to his personal ability, and his position in the 
social arrangement. His first work is to perfect his own 4 
nature; or rather, to let God do it, by leaving himself in 
the hands of the divine operator. But in being perfected 
in himself, he is perfected at the same time in the rela- 


tions he sustains to others. In being a better man, he is 7. 


not only a better father and husband, but a better citizen; 
—and while he labors and prays for the new and per- 
fected life of those immediately around him, he does 
what he can for the restoration of all others in all places. 

9. Think not that nothing can be done, because thou 
art little in the eyes of the world. The result does not 


UNION IN THE WORK OF REDEMPTION. 323 


~ depend upon what thou art in the world, but upon 
what thou art in God. It is God only, who is the source 
of all good. Various are the instruments he employs. 
He selects them, and he places them in the appropri- 
ate situations to be used by him. ‘The power, whether 
it be more or less, is not in the instrument, in itself con- 
sidered, but in God, who selects and locates it. In a 
multitude of instances has the declaration of the apostle 
been illustrated, that ‘‘God hath chosen the weak things 
of the world, to confound the things which are mighty.” * 

Aman of faith and prayer, however humble his situa- 
_ tion in life, may yet have influence enough to affect the 
destiny of nations. 

I will refer to an instance, which seems to be appro- 
priate in this connection, and will illustrate what has 
now been said. Some years since, I was acquainted 
with an individual who has now gone to his rest and his 
reward. I have reference to the late William Ladd, the 
mention of whose name will recall cherished recollections 
to many hearts. In early life, he followed the sea ;—in 
the course of a few years he became the commander of 


» amerchant vessel, and acquired some amount of prop- 


_ erty. On quitting the sea, he purchased a farm in the 
inland town of Minot, in the state of Maine. On read- 
ing a tract on peace, written by one of the former presi- 
dents of Bowdoin College, he was led to reflect upon the 
inconsistency of war with the Gospel. Having enjoyed 
favorable opportunities of education before going to sea, 
and being a person of a strong mind, he conceived the 
idea of putting an end to war throughout the world by 
means of-a Congress of Nations, which should have 
power to establish an international code, and also a High 


* 1 Corinthians 1: 27. 


324 UNION WITH Gop. 


Court of Nations. What a mighty project to be brought 
about by such limited agency ! 


A few years before his death, I visited his retired resi- 


dence. He showed me the room in which he had writ- 


ten the numerous papers, and even volumes, on the | 
subject of war. Walking with him in one of his beau-_ 
tiful fields, he pointed to a small cluster of trees at a 4 


little distance, and said, ‘‘ It was beneath those trees that 
I solemnly consecrated myself in prayer to this one work 


of impressing upon the minds of men the principles of 4 
peace.’ For many years he spent a large portion of his — 


time in going from city to city, and from town to town, 


in almost all parts of the United States, introducing the — 
subject of peace to associations of ministers, conversing _ 


with all classes of persons in relation to it, and lecturing 
wherever he could find an audience. I met with him 
often, and have been deeply affected with his simplicity 
and fixedness of purpose. He fully believed that God 
had inspired within him that central idea, around which 


the labors of his life turned. And those who knew him _ 
intimately, could hardly fail to be impressed with a sim- _ 
ilar conviction. He corresponded with distinguished | 


individuals in Europe;—he scattered his numerous 
tracts and other writings on this momentous subject in 


all parts of the world. For many years the important i| 


movements of the American Peace Society appeared to 


rest upon him far more than upon any other individual. — 


He died; and although he ‘was preceded and has been 
followed by others of a kindred spirit, he was the means, 
under God, of giving an impulse to the cause of peace, 
which is felt throughout the world. Society, penetrated 
by the great thought of universal pacification, seems to 
be brought to a pause. At Brussels, at Paris, at Frank- 
fort-on-the-Maine, at London, we see nations, as it were, 


- 


P| 


UNION IN THE WORK OF REDEMPTION. 325 


assembled in great Congresses, and consulting on their 
position and duties, in consequence of the impulse which 
God was pleased to communicate, in a great degree, 
through the labors of this comparatively humble indi- 
vidual. Let us not, then, look upon the outward person 
or the outward situation. It is one of the attributes of 
God to deduce great results from small causes. Wher- 
ever there is faith in God, there is power, — whatever 
may be the situation of the person who exercises it. 

10. In this, as well as in other parts of this work, we 
are desirous not to forget the great object had in view, 
namely, the illustration of man’s position, relations, and 
principles of action, in the higher forms of religious 
experience. It is taken for granted, that the subject of 
this higher experience has passed through the more com- 
mon forms of religious experience; and has advanced 
from the incipient state of justification, and from the 
earlier gradations or steps of sanctification, to that state 
of DIVINE UNION, in which he can say with a good degree 
of confidence, ‘“‘I and my Father are one.’”’ With this 
remark kept in view, we proceed to say here, that man, 
in the early periods of his religious history, is generally 
moved in the sphere which is appropriate to a renovated 
nature, in part by the principle of holy love, and in part 
also, — and often in the greater part, — by the constraints 
of the moral sense. ‘I‘he distinction between these two 
principles of action we have already endeavored to 
illustrate at the eighth chapter of Part IV. Ata later 
period of his inward history, if he is the subject of all 
that the Gospel is designed to realize in him, the princi- 
ple of holy love will be so increased in strength as to be 
the constant and predominant principle of action. And, 
although at this later period (the period with which this 
work is principally occupied) the moral sense is greatly 

28 


326 DIVINE UNION. 


enlightened, and is increasingly sensitive to distinctions 


of right and wrong, still, if the principle of love is | 


supreme, the presence and operations of the moral sus- 
ceptibility will not much be felt in the compulsive form, 
but chiefly in the instruction it gives, —that is to say, 
in its indications of that “straight and narrow” path 


into which holy love leads, and also in the constant | 


manifestations of its approbation. In other words, the 
Christian, at this later period, will be brought more fully 
and potihaendly into the true life of love. 

11. What, therefore, we wish to add here, is this 
Those, who are truly and fully united with (hb will be 


found to harmonize with him in the great ris of - 


redemption, in the various forms of it to which we have 
attended, and in all other forms, by the natural workings 
of the central principle or life, and not by anything 
which is merely incidental or additional to the life. If 
they are in God by an unity of life, then the life of God 
and the life of those who are thus born of God, can 
always be said, in whatever their heavenly Father calls 
them to do, to be one. And, consequently, living with a 
divine life, and the life being the “light” as well as the 


life, (that is to say, being under God the true and most 
important interpreter of the divine will,) they cannot | 
possibly be separated from him in that great work of — 


redemption which is so dear to him. 
12. In coéperating in the great work of redemption, 
the truly holy man will preach, for instance, not merely 


or chiefly to fulfil the requisitions of BeBe! which 


tells him what he ought to be,— but having already 
become what he ought to be by the power of the Holy 
Ghost in his soul, he preaches in fulfilment of the requi- 


sitions of the life, which is now actually in him. He | 


will relieve the poor and sick, and do other works of 


benevolence, not for the purpose of stifling the feelings _ 


UNION IN THE WORK OF REDEMPTION. 327 


of remorse, but in the natural and self-moved fulfilment 
of the instigations of a renovated nature. Like the Son 
of God, in whose image he is born, he “hath life in him- 
self”? In the language of the apostle Paul, the “love 
of Christ constraineth”’ him. 

13. It may be said of such a man, with a good deal 
of reason, that he realizes, in the operations and rela- 
tions of his spiritual nature, the truth of the vision of 
Ezekiel. It was not without a spiritual meaning that 
the prophet, on the banks of the Chebar, saw a vision of 
‘‘wheels in the middle of a wheel,” all moving with the 
same principle of life. In like manner, the holy man, 


+ being in God by the possession of a divine nature, con- 


stitutes a life within a life, ‘‘a wheel within a wheel ;” 
— living and acting in that true and beautiful position, 
which the finite, when not dislodged from its original 
adjustment, always sustains in the Infinite. Without 
being in the same form or personality of existence, he 
possesses, by unity of spirit, the same central element of 
existence. And whenever and wherever God moves in 
the great work of redemption, — whether it be to relieve 
the sick and to enlighten the ignorant at home, or to 
pour light into the dark minds of the heathen abroad, or 
in whatever other work of benevolence, — he can neither 
be out of harmony with the divine mind, nor cease to be 
cooperative in the divine plans of action. 


THE CAMP HAS HAD ITS DAY OF SONG.* 


Tue camp has had its day of song; 
The sword, the bayonet, the plume 

Have crowded out of rhyme too long 
The plough, the anvil, and the loom! 


328 


DIVINE UNION. 


O, not upon our tented fields 
Are Freedom’s heroes bred alone ; 

The training of the work-shop yields 
More heroes true than War has known! 


Who drives the bolt, who shades the steel, 
May, with a heart as valiant, smite, 

As he, who sees a foeman reel 
In blood before his blow of might! 

The skill that conquers space and time, 
That graces life, that lightens toil, 

May spring from courage more sublime 
Than that which makes a realm its spoil. 


Let Labor, then, look up and see, 

His craft no pith of honor lacks ; 
The soldier’s rifle yet shall be 

Less honored than the woodman’s axe! 
Let Art his own appointment prize, 

Nor deem that gold or outward height 
Can compensate the worth that lies 

In tastes that breed their own delight. 


And may the time draw nearer still 
When men this sacred truth shall heed, 
That from the thought and from the will 
Must all that raises man proceed ! 
Though pride should hold our calling low, 
For us shall duty make it good ; 
And we from truth to truth shall go, 
Till life and death are understood. 


* Ode composed for the Charitable Mechanic Association of Massa- 
chusetts, by E. Sargent, Hsq. 


CHAPTER VIII. 


ON UNION WITH GOD IN THE REDEMPTION OF THE ARTS AND 
LITERATURE. 


Of the necessity of a divine guidance in art and literature.— Of the 
early opinions among men on this subject.— Of union with God in 
the mechanic and other subordinate arts. — Of union with God in 
the fine arts. —Illustrated from the paintings of Raphael. — The 
subject pursued in its relations to history and poetry. — Its applica- 
tion to seminaries of learning.— Reference to a pious teacher. — 
Concluding Remarks. 


Ir God is man’s great teacher, as we have seen in a 
former part of this work, then, in his efforts in acquiring 
knowledge, he will be likely to go astray and to seek out 
hurtful “inventions,” * so far as he does not accept a 
divine guidance. It is, therefore, not too much to say, 
that the Holy Ghost, the inward teacher sent down from 
heaven, both ought to be, and that he is designed to be, 
the great master in art and literature. And it is worthy 
of notice, that heathen nations, who everywhere give 
evidence that they have some glimpses of the truth, 
agree in ascribing the early inventions in art, and the 
early works in poetry and music, either to a divine 
agency or to human agency aided by divine. According 
to the mythology of the Greeks, it required the skill of 
Mercury to invent the lyre; —and there could neither 
be poetry nor music without the aid of Apollo and the 

* Ecclesiastes 7: 29. 


28% 


4 


330 UNION WITH GOD. 


muses. Accordingly, the great poets of the Greeks and 
Romans frequently begin their works by a distinct recog- 
nition of their dependence upon a higher power, who 
gave inspiration to their thoughts. And it is worthy of 
notice that Livy, in the commencement of his work on 
Roman history, (certainly in many of its attributes one _ 
of the most perfect and interesting works of that kind,) 
proposes to his readers, that they should imitate the cus- 
tom of the poets, and commence their undertaking by 
supplicating the presence and aid of the gods. y, 

2. But it is needless to recapitulate instances. The _ 
idea that a higher power was needed in the development 
of all good things, was so universal in the early periods — 
of the human race, that it might well be called an 
instinct of man’s nature. The ideas which men then 
entertained of God, were oftentimes very imperfect, and 
perhaps generally so; but, whatever they might con- 
ceive him to be, they had a conviction, which was 
entitled to higher and better practical results, that he 
was the true source of all good. Mr. Dryden has alluded 
to this early conviction in some happy lines : — 


‘¢ When Jubal struck the chorded shell, 
His listening brethren stood around, 
And wondering, on their faces fell, 
To worship that celestial sound. 
Less than a God they thought there could not dwell 
Within the hollow of that shell, 
Which spoke so sweetly and so well.”’ 


3. Readily, and with entire strength of conviction, do 
we yield our assent to the great truth, which is thus im- 
perfectly indicated in benighted times and by the dim 
light of nature, while it is clearly asserted and illustrated 
in the Scriptures. All poetry, all music, all painting, all 


UNION IN THE WORK OF REDEMPTION. dl 


_statuary and architecture, all wisdom in legislation, alk 
useful mechanic invention, everything whatever, which 
has in it the elements of living truth and beauty, implies 
the fact, as it seems to us, of the presence and aid of 
a divine power. At any rate, so far as these things, 
or things of a kindred nature, are done or attempted to 
be done without divine aid, so far they are attended with 
imperfection. And so far as they are imperfect, and 
could be carried into effect otherwise and better than 
they are, so far they stand in need of redemption ; —a 
redemption, which comes to them through the mediation 
of Jesus Christ, as truly as redemption comes in any 
other form from that source. 

Believing, therefore, that the work of redemption and 
restoration extends to all things, and that no art or work 
of man can be carried to its highest and most beneficial 
results without God’s presence, we proceed now to illus- 
trate the union of God with man in the resis and 
perfection of the arts and literature. 

And, in doing this, we shall first refer briefly to those 
arts which, though very useful and necessary, are gener- 
ally regarded as comparatively low in rank. Our view 
is, that the divine presence and aid are necessary in the 
development and application of all such arts, however 
humble they may be thought to be. The art of agricul- 
ture, the mechanic arts, the arts connected with domestic 
life, all of them not only admit, but require, the union of 
the divine with the human, in order to secure their per- 
fection and their proper use. We do not hesitate to say, 
that the man who holds the plough, the man who lifts 
his arm of toil in the workshop, can do it usefully and 
happily, only so far as he does it in connection with God. 
The true doctrine is, — God in all things. God made 
the earth; —God sends the rains, that fertilize it. But 


332 UNION WITH GOD. 


this is not all. It is equally true, whenever and wher- _ 
ever the original harmony of things is readjusted, that — 
God guides the hand that guides the plough, and smites 
in the hand that smites the anvil. And the’ laborer and 
the artisan are not in true union with God, until they — 
have dispositions which will lead them to pray and “ y 
believe that this may be the case. 4 
4. And especially may this be said, because all arts 
and labors have relationships and influences beyond _ 
what is first presented to our notice. It is obvious, for | 
instance, that God designs that the Gospel shall be — 
preached in all lands. And this great and benevolent — 
design as obviously involves the fact, that missionaries — 
must be sent just as far and as widely as the Gospel is 
to be preached. And every one perceives that they can- 
not thus go from land to land, and over intermediate — 
seas, without the aid of ships and other conveyances. 
‘Those, therefore, who build ships, and those who navi- 
gate them, and those who develop and perfect the prin- — 
ciples and methods of navigation, are all in the natural 
line of divine codperation; that is to say,—they are 
doing a sort of work which God designs and wishes _ 
them to do. And if they will only add the spirit of 
union to the form of union, then they are actually in the — 
state of union, so far as this particular thing is concerned, — 
and will do just what they ought to do. And without — 
the spirit of union, which leads them to look to God in | 
everything, they will fail to do what they ought to do. 
God, dwelling in the soul, is just as necessary to makea 
sood sailor as to make a good preacher. : 
God not only needs missionaries, who are to be sent _ 
abroad in ships; but he needs Bibles to be distributed by 
those missionaries. But Bibles must be printed; and — 
they cannot be printed without printers to do the work. _ 


UNION IN THE WORK OF REDEMPTION. 3030 


Printers, therefore, are as necessary in their sphere as 


missionaries. And the remark which has just been 
made, may be repeated here, namely, that the presence 


of God in the soul is as necessary for printers, in order 
to help them do their work properly, as it is for others. 
And this is true of every art and calling whatever. No 
art ever comes to its ultimate and highest good, and 
never can come to such good, except so far as it has God 
in it, both to approve the thing done, and to direct and 
aid in doing it. 

5. And this we understand to be the doctrine of the 
Bible everywhere. When Moses was required to build 
the tabernacle in the wilderness, it was necessary that he 
should employ mechanics. But the fact of their being 
mechanics did not exclude the idea of their being taught 
of God. On the contrary, God seemed to be unwilling 
that any should be employed except those in whom his 
own spirit of wisdom dwelt. He did not propose to do 
the work miraculously ;— but, in using human instru- 
mentality, he was desirous of finding men of such dis- 
positions that he could enter into them; and working 
unitively, if we may so express it, perfect the human 
thought by harmonizing it with the divine. ‘The pas- 
sage in relation to this matter is one of great and beau- 
tiful interest. 

“And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, —See, I 
have called by name Bezaleel, the son of Uri, the son of 
Hur, of the tribe of Judah. 

“And I have filled him with the spirit of God, in wis- 
dom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in 
all manner of workmanship ; — to devise cunning works, 
to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, and in cut- 
ting of stones to set them, and in carving of timber, to 
work in all manner of workmanship. 


Ba 
= Ps] 


334 UNION WITH GOD. 
F 


“And I, behold, I have given with him Aholiab, the 
son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan;—and in the _ 
hearts of all that are wise-hearted I have put wisdom, 
that they may make all that I have commanded thee.” * _ | 

The following striking stanzas of George Herbert, an 
old English poet, now almost forgotten, illustrate and sus- 
tain some of the views which have now been expressed. 


TEACH ME, MY GOD AND KING. 


Teach me, my God and King, 
In all things Thee to see, 

And what I do in anything 
To do wt unto Thee. 


Not rudely, as a beast, 
To run into an action; 

But still to make Thee prepossest, , 
And give it thy perfection. 


A man, that looks on glass, 
On it may stay his eye, 

Or, if he pleaseth, through it pass, 
And then the heaven espy. 


All may of Thee partake, 
Nothing can be so mean, 

That with this tincture, — FoR THY SAKE, 
Will not grow bright and clean. 


A servant, with this clause, 
Makes drudgery divine ; 

Who sweeps a room, as for thy laws, 
Makes that, and the action, fine. 


This is the famous stone 
That turmeth all to gold; 

For that which God doth touch and own 
Cannot for less be told. 


* Exodus 31: 1—6; also, 36: 1—4. 


UNION IN THE WORK OF REDEMPTION. 335. 


6. These views will apply easily, and perhaps still 
more strikingly, to the liberal or fine arts, and to the va- 
rious forms of literature. If a divine guidance is neces- 
sary to make a man perfect in the more common arts of 
life, so that he cannot build his own habitation, or do 
any other mechanic work as he ought to do, without God 
to help him, — still more is such suidance necessary in 
those arts which imply higher exercises of the intellect, 
such as painting and sculpture. Give a man all the 
requisites of a great painter, a practised hand, an eye 
alive to all the beauties of external nature, a creative 
imagination ;— and then add a heart in alliance with 
God, and rich in holy feelings, and it is not easy to limit 
the beautiful and sublime works which his pencil will 
sive rise to. ‘The same may be said of sculpture and of 
architecture in its higher forms. 

And such are the difficulties attending these arts, when 
it is proposed to carry them to their highest results, — so 
much invention is necessary, so much care in the rela- 
tive adjustment of the parts which a happy invention 
has given rise to, so much wisdom and skill in conveying 
inward thought and feeling by outward form and gesture, 
-—not to speak of other difficulties and other requisites, — 
that all great artists, if they sympathize with their own 
aspirations, and are true to the instincts of their own 
nature, feel very much their need of a higher power to 


euide them. They know that nothing but God could 


carry out and complete the outlines of beauty and 
srandeur, which often float vividly before them ; — and, 
under the pressure of this conviction, their souls instinct- 
ively yearn for the possession of that divine presence 
and aid, which would enable them to complete what 
their imaginations have conceived. 

The subject of one of the great paintings of Raphael is, 


336 UNION WITH GOD. 


‘Paul preaching at Athens.” The conception of the 
apostle as the living embodiment of a new and purer 
religion, his position in the front and on the steps of a 
heathen temple, the mighty power of truth and Chris- 
tian benevolence which struggles forth in his dignified 


but fervent attitude and action, the different groups that 


stand or are seated around him;— some calmly indiffer- 
ent and sceptical; some expressing in their counte- 


nances the mingled feelings of fear and hatred ; — others qj 


yielding a rational conviction, and showing the signs of 
true sensibility and rising hope; — all combined together 
present a scene of the greatest conceivable interest. How 
is it possible that a great painter, who appreciates the 
magnitude of such a work, the exgeeding difficulties 
attending its execution, and the mighty moral influences 
which follow a successful result, can enter upon it, with- 
out first praying to God for wisdom and help, and with- 
out continuing to pray for them at every successive step? 

7. Literature also will fail to arrive at and to sustain 
itself in its perfected life and beauty without the spirit of 
God in it. Take, for instance, the single department of 
history, which is undoubtedly one of great importance 
and interest. The importance of history is seen, when 
we consider that the history of the deeds and sufferings 
of man is at the same time the history of the dealings of 
God with man. It details the conflicts of virtue and vice, 
and anticipates, in the conclusion of its pages, the de- 
struction of the one, and the final victory of the other. 


There is a close connection between human history and — 


the coming of Christ in the world ;-—as the incidents in 
the history of all nations, previous to that event, seem to 
have been arranged in reference to it, and all subsequent 
history has been influenced by it. And, in this point of 
view, many judicious persons have been disposed, with 


ee 


UNION IN THE WORK OF REDEMPTION. 337 


much reason, to set a high value upon the work of Presi- 
dent Edwards, entitled ‘The History of Redemption.” 
The object of this interesting work is, to give an outline 
of the history of the human race, in connection with the 
history of redemption ; — uniting the two in such a man- 
ner as to show their reciprocal relations and influences. 
And the history is exceedingly valuable, not because it 
illustrates the idea of history in all respects, but because 
it so fully introduces an element, or point of view, which 
is generally left out. 

As a general thing, history has limited itself to giving 
an account of national wars. It has been so written, for 
the most part, as to be a commemoration of deeds of vio- 
lence, so that he, who kills the most and conquers the 
most, however deficient in civic and moral virtues, holds 
the prominent position, and is made the subject of undue 
panegyric. But history, in order to be a true record of 
the human race, should embrace not only war, but also 
civil and political,events, and the progress of the arts and 
literature ;— so that the man, who serves his country by 
peaceful labors and excellences, may have his reward, 
as well as the warrior. 

A favorable change, however, has already taken place. 
The spirit of the Gospel is beginning to take effect. 
The rights, the happiness, the immortal interests of the 
masses of men are receiving a consideration which they 
have not received before. And history at last sees the 
wisdom of placing the man who has made improvements 
in some useful art, or has done some benevolent deed, on 
a footing at least with those who command armies. 
And so far as the historian, looking to God and receiving 
direction from-that source, has an eye.to the good of 
mankind and the claims and advancement of virtue, he 


29 


338 UNION WITH GOD. 


is in union with God. And this is at the same time his 
highest honor, and the source of his highest power. 

8. ‘The doctrine of divine union applies to everything. 
We may, perhaps, further illustrate it, in its connection 
with literature, by some references to poetry as well as 
history. Without stopping to say what poetry is, or on 
what principles it operates, every one knows that its in- 
fluence has been very great. But it is to be regretted, 
that, like history, it has been employed, for the most part, 
in immortalizing deeds of cruelty, and in giving lustre to 
crime. Or, if it should be said in modification of this 
statement, that it has given a larger share of its attention 
to love than history has, it ought to be added that the 
love which it celebrates has not always been that refined 
and pure love, which receives the sanction of Christi- 
anity. 

It is a matter of great satisfaction, however, that a 
change is beginning to take place in this department — 
of literature, as well as in others. The eclat of war, 
although it has yet a strong hold upon fallen humanity, 
is much diminished; and domestic affections, regulated 
and refined by religious sentiment, are more highly ap- 
preciated, as compared with irregular and sinful desires. 
Rural and domestic life and other subjects, such as are 
congenial with the truths of nature, and with the spirit 
of the Gospel, are beginning to find hearts that can esti- 
mate, and pens that can develop, them. 'The man who 
writes a poem after the manner and in the spirit of the 
Kclogues and Georgics of Virgil, or, taking more recent 
examples, in the spirit of the Seasons of Thomson and 
the Task of Cowper, in which the beauties of nature 
and the humble virtues of agricultural life are celebrated, 
does a great work for God and humanity. The Scotch 
noet, Burns, has sung both of war and love; and few 


UNION IN THE WORK OF REDEMPTION. 339 


persons have touched with a stronger hand. those mighty 

passions; but the time is coming, when the gentler and 
purer virtues, which are celebrated in his beautiful poem, 
entitled ‘The Cotter’s Saturday Night,” will excite a 
wider and deeper interest. 

9. Poetry has done much for vice. The day has 
come when it is expected to do much for virtue. ‘This 
is not an art in which it is safe for a man to separate 
himself from God. Let it be employed in showing the 
deformities of wickedness and the excellences of good- 
ness; in depicting the beauties of nature, and in 
describing the attributes of the God of nature; and in 
encouraging men to walk in the paths of truth and 
peace. 

Among other things, it ought not to be forgotten that 
poetry has its religious uses. If angels sung at the birth 
of the Saviour, certainly there is more reason that men 
should sing. The author of a good hymn, expressive of 
sentiments of Christian piety, may feel that he has lived 
and labored to some purpose. In enumerating those 
who through divine grace have done a good and great 
work for God and his church, we should not be likely to 
forget the names of Watts, Cowper, and Wesley. How 
many thousands of hearts, in successive ages, have been 
cheered by the simple but impressive stanzas, the author 
of which I believe is unknown, which begin with the 
lines : — 

‘¢ Jerusalem! my happy home! 
Name ever dear to me.”’ 


But whatever a person undertakes to write of this 
kind, whether hymns or poetry which is more secular in 
its character, it is very certain that he can do nothing 
well, without God to help him. If the ancients needed 


340° UNION WITH GoD. 


the aid of Apollo and the muses, it would be a shame to 
a Christian poet to attempt to write without the aid of 


that divine inspiration which Christianity teaches him to 


supplicate. And, accordingly, Milton was unwilling to 
proceed in his great work, the Paradise Lost, without 
first invoking the divine assistance : — 


ra 


‘¢ And chiefly Thou, O Spirit! that dost prefer 
Before all temples the upright heart and pure, 
Instruct me, for Thou knowest.’? 


10. It is hardly necessary to say, that this subject has 
an intimate connection with the establishment of institu- 
tions for the education of the young. It is a part of God’s 
plan to teach man by the aid of his fellow-man, and to 
secure his codperation by means of educational institu- 
tions. And looking at such institutions in this light, 
namely, in their relation to God, it seems to us that the 
time has come when they should be formed upon new 
principles, —in part at least. Christians will not do 


justice to themselves, and will not fully unite in God’s 


designs in reference to man’s redemption, until the 
learned institutions they establish and support shall 
combine with the cultivation of the intelleet the higher 
and nobler object of the restoration of the heart to its 
Maker. It should be written upon the walls of every 
seminary ;— Education for Truth, for Humanity, for 
God. 

The state of things is far different from this. If we 
had no other evidence of this remark, we might find it 
in one fact which all are acquainted with. We have 
reference to the general exclusion of the Bible from the 
list of books which are systematically and thoroughly 
studied. If the Bible were estimated by’ its literary 


merits alone, it ought not to be condemned to such an 


~ < 
eee CS 


UNION IN THE WORK OF REDEMPTION. 341 


exclusion. Considered simply as documents, which throw 
light upon the origin of the human race and the early 
history of mankind, there are no books more worthy of. 
being studied than the five books of Moses and the other 
historical books of the Old Testament. We would not 


‘easily yield to others in our admiration of the writers of 


Greece and Rome; but, looking at them in a merely 
literary point of view, we find the poets of those coun- 
tries excelled by the Psalms of David and by many pas- 
sages of the prophets;— and probably no one will say, 
that the moral doctrines of Socrates and Cicero, eminent 
and enlightened men as they were, are to be brought into 
comparison with the divine teachings of the Son of God. 
But on such a subject we might be distrustful of our own 
opinions, were it not that they are in harmony with sen- 
timents frequently expressed by literary men of so much 
learning and eminence, that their right to judge in such 
a matter will not be likely to be questioned. ‘The sub- 
ject, for instance, is repeatedly referred to in the writings 
of Sir William Jones. He says, on one occasion, ‘‘I have 
carefully and regularly perused the Holy Scriptures, and 
am of opinion, that, independent of its divine origin, the 
volume contains more sublimity, purer morality, more 
important history, and finer strains of eloquence, than 
can be collected from any other book, in whatever lan- 
guage it may have been written.” 

But if the Scriptures are thus valuable in a merely 
literary point of view, it would be difficult to express 
their importance, considered in their moral and religious 
relations. It is in this view that they present claims, 
which can be brought forward in support of no other 
system and no other book. _ 

11. The mere study of the Bible, however, is not 
enough. ‘There are institutions at the present day, in 

29% 


342. UNION WITH GOD. 


which the Bible is carefully studied; — but less with a 
reference to moral than intellectual culture. ‘The ‘study 
of the Bible for the mere purpose of increasing our 
amount of knowledge, is not all that is needed. It 
should be studied with a view to the supply of our moral 
and religious wants. ‘There should, therefore, be a dis- 
tinct recognition, in every institution of learning, of 
man’s alienation from God, and of the necessity of his 


restoration. Upon these two great subjects, which are 


vital in every true system of mental culture, all possible 
light should be thrown. And it ought to be understood 
that no person is to be regarded as thoroughly educated, 


who cannot say that he has given his heart to God at _ | 


the same time that he has given his intellect to the pur- 
suit of the truth. 

Nor are such views to be considered as impracticable. 
There are principles, perhaps not yet fully ascertained, 
which will result, (we will not say infallibly, but certainly 
as a general thing,) in spiritual renovation. And it seems 
to be a part of God’s plan, that they shall be applied in 
connection with the relationship of man with man, and 
their mutual agency one upon the other. In all institu- 
tions, therefore, there should be living teachers, men 
“full of the Holy Ghost,” who should be able to explain 
and apply the principles which are found in the Bible. 
If such institutions could take the place of many which 
now exist, the favorable results to morals and religion 
would be immense. | 

12. In early life I had the privilege of being associated, 


for a short time, in an institution, where it seemed tome __ 


that some of these views were happily illustrated. ‘The 
studies always opened in the morning and closed at night 
with religious services. The first half hour of every 
morning, in particular, was devoted to the reading of the 


UNION IN THE WORK OF REDEMPTION. 343 


Scriptures, the explanatory and practical remarks of’ the 


worthy and learned instructor, and to prayer. And it 
was understood by all, whatever might be the state of 
their own minds; that this religious exercise was regarded 
by the teacher as one of preéminent importance. When 
he came before his pupils on this occasion, they did not 
doubt that he had first commended them to God in pri- 
vate; and that of all objects which he desired and had 
at heart, there was none so dear to him as their souls’ 
salvation. Every movement was stilled ; — every voice 
hushed ; — every eye fixed. And whatever might be 
their creed or want of creed, their religious adhesions 
or aversions, such was their sympathy with his obvious 
sense of responsibility and his divine sincerity, that even 
the hearts of the infidel and the profane were cheerfully 
laid open before him; —so that with their own consent 
he was enabled, by means of his prayers and warnings, 
to write upon them, as it were, inscriptions for immor- 
tality. Iwas not a pupil in the seminary to which I 
refer, but an assistant teacher ; and had a good opportu- 
nity to observe and to judge. My own heart never failed 
to be profoundly affected; and, from what I have 
learned and known of his pupils since, scattered as they 
have been in all parts of the world, and engaged in vari- 
ous occupations, I have no doubt that God eminently 
blessed the faithful labors of this good man, and that he 


_ was permitted to realize in his instructions, to an extent 
not often witnessed, the beautiful union of the culture 


of the heart with that of the understanding. 

13. Christ came into the world to redeem man to 
God ;— in other words, to restore him to God by redemp- 
tion; — that is to say, by the purchase of his own blood. 
The object is secured, and man is restored to God, when- 
ever God becomes the in-dwelling, the universal, and 


/ 


344 UNION WITH GOD. 


permanent principle of his soul. And the restoration of 


man involves the restoration of all that pertains to man. 


The restoration of man is, at the same time, the restorae- 
tion of the family and of civil society; the restoration cb | 
of art and literature. It implies the extinction of vice, 
the prevalence of virtue, the dignity of labor, the univer- 


sality of education, and the perfection of social sympa- 
thy and intercourse. And no man is, or can be redeemed, 
in the truer and higher sense of the terms, without being, 
in his appropriate degree and place, a co-worker with 
God in all these respects. 


| 
! 
I 


| 
| 


CHAPTER IX. 


ON THE NATURE AND PRACTICAL EXTENT OF THE POWER 
OF LOVE. 


‘ 

The influence of love attractive rather than ageressive. — Argued, 
first, from the fact that pure love has an innate power of making 
itself loved. — Foundations of this power, namely, in its truth and 
beauty. — Illustration of its influence from the influence of the sun 
in the natural world. — The man of love is a man of power. 


In coéperating with our heavenly Father in the great 
work of redemption, it is an interesting inquiry, what 
spirit, what form of feeling, he will especially lead us to 
exercise, and what methods of action and effort we shall 
employ. It is an obvious remark, though somewhat 
general in its nature, that we should never lose our sim- 
plicity of heart ;— but, looking to God with “a single 
eye,” should receive all things and be all things in him 
alone.. Leaving ourselves in the hands of God in sim- 
plicity, that we may thus become the subjects of the 
divine operation, he, more or less gradually, according to 
his infinite wisdom, infuses into the soul that divine ele- 
ment of holy love, which makes it like himself. God is 
love. The feeling, which exists in those who cooperate 
with him, is love. And when the world becomes holy by 
being the subject of holy love, and just in proportion as 
it becomes so, it will find its power in its love. And, 
accordingly, its influence over men will partake of the 


346 UNION WITH Gop. 


od 


attractive rather than the aggressive form. This is an 
important idea, which we propose to illustrate. eh 

2. In support of the view which has just been pro- — 
posed, we proceed, therefore, to say, that pure or unself- _ 
ish love has a power, ei anything else, to make 
itself loved. 'This remarkable power is as permanent as 
its own existence. As its attributes of universality and 
purity, its dispositions to love all, and to love all without — 
selfishness, are essential to its nature; so, also, is the — 
attribute of its influence, that secret but certain power 
of making itself beloved, which it has over all minds, ~ 
It is not a power, therefore, which is acquired, but inhe- 
rent ; not incidental, but permanent ; exerting its author- 
ity by virtue of its own right, and not merely as the gift 
of favorable circumstances. 

3. Pure love necessarily makes itself beloved, because 
it involves in its own nature two things, which have a 
power over love, namely, Truth and Beauty. 

Pure love is in the truth ; —that is to say, it exists in 
accordance with the truth. In other words, it has a true” 
or right foundation. If God is a true or right being, 
then pure love, which constitutes the central element of 
his character, is a right or true affection. Love, which 
seeks the good of others merely because it delights in — 
goodness, and without any private or selfish views, is 
what it ought to be; — and it cannot be otherwise than 
it is, without a violation of the facts and order of the 
universe. ‘True in its foundation, and true in all the © 
relations it sustains, it is, at the same time, truth to God, 
truth to nature, and aia to humanity. 

4. And pure love, which is thus inscribed everywhere 
with the signatures of its divine verity, is as beautiful 


as it is true. Beauty is the daughter of truth, When 


things are in truth, they are where it is fitting and right, 


UNION IN THE WORK OF REDEMPTION. 347 


that they should be;—just in their facts, just in their 


relations, just in their influences ;—and such things cannot 
be indifferent to us. 'They have an innate power which 
is real, though not always explainable. And not being 


indifferent, but having a natural power to excite emo- 
tions, it is not possible, with such a foundation and such 
! relations, that they should excite any emotions but those 
of beauty. We regard it, therefore, as a fixed and per- 
manent law of nature, that the true and the beautiful 
| have an eternal relation. It is impossible to separate 
them. Wherever the truth is, standing out to the eye in 
its own free and noble lineaments, there is, and must be, 
beauty. 


5. With such elements involved in its very existence, 


pure or holy love cannot fail to make itself beloved. 
While its nature is to go out of itself for the good of 
_ others, and its very life is to live in the happiness of 
others, such is the transcendent truth and beauty of its 
divine generosity, that, without thinking of itself, it 
makes itself the centre of the affections of others. In 
| its gently pervading and attractive nature, it finds the 
analogy and the representation of its influence in the 
natural world. The sun, as the ventre of the solar sys- 
tem, binds together the planets which revolve around it, 


because it has something in itself, which may be said to 


allure and attract their movements, rather than compel 
it. What the sun is to the natural world, pure love is to 


the moral world. It not only has life in itself, which 
necessarily sends out or gives love, but has an innate 
power in itself, which necessarily attracts love. Recep- 
tive, at the same time that it is emanative, *t stands as 
the moral centre, which, without violating their freedom, 
turns the universe of hearts to itself. 

6. The man, therefore, who is inspired and moved by 


348 UNION WITH GOD. 


the sentiments of pure or holy love, is a man of power. - | 


The maxim, that knowledge is power, is not more true 
than the proposition, that love is power. Limited in 


knowledge, and weak perhaps in social position, the man _ 
who loves is powerful by character. His mere opinions, — 
divested as they necessarily are of the perversions of — 


selfishness, inspire more confidence than the proofs and 
arguments of other men. His wish becomes a law, and 
has far more influence with those around him than the 


arts and compulsions, which aspirit less pure and gener- _ 


ous would be likely to apply. Power is lodged in him, 
lives in him, moves in him, goes out from him. It costs 
him no effort. It is felt, almost without being exercised. 

When he is smitten he turns the other cheek, and like 


the Saviour, forgives and loves his enemies. And, in 


doing so, he conquers by the grandeur of his sentiments. 
He does good from the impulse of good, and without 
asking or seeking reward. And, in doing so, he places 
himself above the common level of humanity;— disarms 
enmity, commands friendship, controls sensibility. ‘The 
world stands abashed in his presence; and does him 
homage. He realizes, in the spiritual sense of its terms, 


which is far more important than the temporal, the fulfil- — | 


ment of the declaration of the Saviour, ‘‘Give, and: it 


shall be given unto you. Good measure, pressed down, 


and shaken together, and running over, shall men give 
into your bosom.” 

7. It may, undoubtedly, be admitted, that those who 
have not arrived at this high degree and purity of love, 
nevertheless have influence. But their influence, whether 
we regard it as more or less considerable, is aggressive, 
rather than attractive. It compels, rather than draws. 


By arguments in support of revelation, by appeals ad- 
dressed. to their interest and fears, by social and pruden- — 


UNION IN THE WORK OF REDEMPTION. 349 


tial arrangements, they aim to bring others within the 
currents of religion, and coerce them, as it were, to come 
in. ‘They are much at work, developing plans and pru- 
dences of action, minmg and countermining with the 
highest dexterity of moral and religious strategy, Some- 
times with considerable effect, and sometimes, like the 
apostle Peter and his associates, toiling all ernie and 
catching nothing. 

But to the man whose heart is filled with divine love, 
his life is his strategy; his heart is his argument; and 
the Holy Ghost within him is his prudential considera- 
tion. The less his strategy, and the more his simplicity, 
provided his simplicity is founded on purity and faith, 
the greater will be his power. He can no more separate 
power from himself, or himself from power, than he car 
separate himself from existence. 

8. Love, therefore, is the principle operating by its 
own divinity, and attractive in its influence rather than 
aggressive and compulsive, which is destined not only to 
control, but to renovate the world. It will conquer, it is 
true, on a new system, and by means of new principles; 
but its conquest will be none the less effectual. And it 
is in such doctrines as these, which imply and require 
the renovation of the heart in love, that the Christian is 


destined to find the true and mighty secret of millennial 


power. 

9. One of the characteristics of holy love, in its devel- 
oped and operative forms is, that it naturally and neces- 
sarily adapts itself to the existing state of things. Feel- 
ingly alive to every possible variety of circumstance, it 
assumes, at successive times, an infinity of modirications, 
without failing, under any of them, to maintain its own 
simplicity and truth. Its own nature, which harmonizes 
with the true good of all other natures, requires this. 


30 


350 UNION WITH GOD. 


When it is alone, for instance, and its thoughts are 
allowed to revert to God in distinction from the creatures 
of God, sympathizing with the divine excellence and 
blessedness, it naturally takes the form of adoring com- 
munion and praise. It begins to sing. ‘Bless the Lord,” 
it says with the Psalmist, ‘ wha the Lord, O my soul, 
and forget not all his benefits !’ 

When it is not permitted to be in reanetiltae but is in 
company with others, it takes its character from those 
with whom it is. In the good and proper sense of the 
expressions, “it becomes all things to all men.” If they 
are persecuted and in prison, if they are sick, or blind, 
or lame, or deprived.of reason, or are afflicted in any 
other manner, then it is full of compassion. It feels all 
their sufferings. It sheds sincere tears. It binds up their 
wounds. And these kind acts, which are not more full 
of truth and beauty than of moral power, are not the 
results of artifice, but of nature. It cannot do otherwise. 
If, on the contrary, those with whom it associates at 
a given time are in health and in joy, it naturally re- 
joices in their joy, just as in the other case it has sorrow. 
in their sorrow. Love, in the form of benevolent sym- 
pathy, is the just reward and the life of innocent pleas- 
ure. It may be said to double the happiness of every 
smile by the reflection of sympathetic happiness from 
itself. 

10. The results in religious things are analogous to 
those in natural things. It harmonizes there also, in a 
manner appropriate to its own nature, with the weak 
and the strong; rejoicing with the one, and rendering 
pity and aid to the other. If, for instance, it enters the 
church on the Sabbath, and hears a man proclaiming 
God’s message with sincerity, but still with evidences of 
want of intellectual power, it does not turn away with 


UNION IN THE WORK OF REDEMPTION. dl 


scorn or coldness; but deeply sympathizes with him, and 
prays the more earnestly that the divine power may be 
revealed and perfected through human weakness. Its 
course, as would naturally be expected, is just the oppo- 
site of that of selfishness. Its desire is not to please 
itself ; but, in its sympathy with God and his word, to 
help out, as it were, the struggling message. 

And it is the same in other cases. Everywhere, freed 
as it is from the restrictions of a low and selfish spirit, 
it is seen to do the thing which is appropriate to the time 
and place; and always by the impulse of a spiritual 
nature, and never by human artifice. Accordingly, if 
we transfer this principle of holy love from the public 
assembly in the church to the smaller assembly of the 
private prayer-meeting, the same results are witnessed. 
It sees those assembled together, who, it is obvious, need 
to be conversed with, to be instructed, to be encouraged. 
Being always in sympathy with God, and knowing that 
its heavenly Father has called them together in order 
that they might be assisted, it does not set itself aside 
and wrap itself up in its own isolation; but feels in its 
own nature all the wants of those around, just as God 
does. It sees God in everything. It is God, who in his 
_ providence has assembled them together. It is God, who 
has placed itself in communication with them, and has 
done it with some benevolent object appropriate to their 
situation. It cannot be doubted, that the mighty heart 
of God desires their restoration; and he, who is united 
with God in love, desires it also. And such is the sym- 
pathy between his state of mind and the arrangements 
of Providence, that his thoughts and feelings and words 
may justly be expected to be in precise accordance with 
the occasion. And this feeling of benevolent sympathy, 
(such are the reciprocal influences of mind upon mind;) 


352 UNION WITH GOD. 


will necessarily be known, and felt, and appreciated, by 
those with whom he sympathizes. 

11. Certainly it is not surprising that love, operating 
without cessation in this divine manner, sioela have 
power. Powerful in its truth and powerful in its beauty, 
it acquires additional power by its mode of operation. 
Even, therefore, when it is estimated on natural princi- 
ples, anil with reference to its own laws of influence, we 
cannot doubt its mighty efficiency; —an efficiency, which 
is more than equal to all possible difficulties, when it is 
attended, as it cannot fail to be, with the divine presence 
and favor. 

If these remarks are correct, then it may be added, 
that the holy man has power with his fellow-men, on the 
same general principles and much in the same way, as 
Christ had when here on earth. Christ, considered in 
his human nature, may truly be described as a man. 
And like other holy men, he was full of the Holy Ghost ; 
— but the divine power which was in him showed itself 
to others chiefly through the medium of a holy sympa- 
thy. ‘There is, perhaps, no trait of his character more 
remarkable than this. It was sympathy which brought 
the Saviour down from heaven to earth; it was sym- 
pathy which, in early times, carried apostles and martyrs 
to the stake; and it is sympathy, like that of the Sav- 
iour, which, at the present day, conducts his followers to 
the dwellings of the poor, the sick, and the ignorant; 
which secures their presence and supplications in the 
church and the prayer-meeting; which inspires their 
self-denying labors for the prisoner and the criminal; 
and which separates them from the endearments of home, 
and sends them to the toils, the sufferings, and the death 
of heathen lands. 

"12. What is here said of sympathy is, at the same 


UNION IN THE WORK OF REDEMPTION. 353 


time, said of love. They are two names for one princi- 
ple. Sympathy is only another name for love, when it 
is exercised in such a way as to harmonize, in the most 
beneficial manner, with the wants and the situation of 
others. We repeat, therefore, that a principle so divine 
as this must ultimately renovate and control the world. 
And it will do it in the manner which has already been 
mentioned, namely, by its attractive rather than its 
ageressive influence. Reaching in every direction, and 
attracting the attention of all men by its innate loveli- 
hess, it draws them gently but surely to itself. It pre- 
vails by means of its truth and beauty, and uot less by 
that gentle touch of fellow-feeling, with which it weeps 
with every tear, and smiles upon every smile. 

And one of its crowning glories is this. It conquers 
without knowing how or why it conquers ; — the mighty 
power which is in it being hidden in its own simplicity 
of spirit. 

30%* 


CHAP TER .X: 


PRINCIPLES AND EXPLANATIONS ON THE SUBJECT OF PRACTICAL 
HOLINESS. 


Definition of holiness. — Reference to the Hebrew and English terms. 
—Of wholeness or completeness in God. — Practical or experiment- 
al holiness implies the fulness of the divine life in the soul. —It is 
by means of God in the soul that the definition of holiness is real- 
ized. — Principles involved in the life of God in the soul, namely, 
entire consecration, appropriating faith, and living by the moment. 


In connection with the ‘views, which have hitherto 
been presented in this work, we are aided, I think, in 
obtaining some new and important ideas in relation to 
practical holiness. Holiness is often defined (and, per- 
haps, more generally than in any other way) to be 
conformity to God’s law; —including conformity of the 
heart or feelings, as well as of the outward action. ‘To 
this definition, or to others stated with the same import, | 
though, perhaps, with some variation of terms, we do 
not propose to object. Perhaps it would not be easy to 
give a better one. 

2. ‘There is a great difference, however, between holi- 
ness defined and holiness practised; between holiness, 
abstractly considered, and holiness in realization. If, 
therefore, it may be important to know in what holiness 
consists by definition, it is certainly not less so to know 
who is the actual possessor of it. ‘The Hebrew word, 
which is translated holiness, involves, as one of its ele> 


UNION IN THE WORK OF REDEMPTION. 3095 


ments, the idea of being set apart to a sacred or religious 
purpose. ‘The English term holiness, in its original im- 
port, means whole-ness, completeness. And this idea, 
when the subject is contemplated in a practical point of 
view, ought not to be lost sight of. Accordingly, pre- 
senting the matter in a little different light from that in 
which it is usually presented, it would not be improper 
to say, that the holy man is one who is whole or complete 
in God. If every part of the life of the creature is filled 
. up and completed with the life of God, then he is a whole 
or holy man, and not otherwise. A holy man, therefore, 
is one who freely surrenders himself to God, that he may 
receive everything from God in return; —so that, by 
means of a divine life, operating as a central principle at 
the seat or heart of his own nature, he is brought into 
entire harmony with God, and fully represents the divine 
conception or idea in faith, in knowledge, in love, in will, 
in harmonizing with providence, in everything. Holi- 
ness, therefore, considered practically, is the perfect 
restoration of the divine life in the soul. | 

3. In making these statements we are not to forget, 
_ (and we are the more solicitous that we should not for- 
get it, because great truths sometimes lie in the close 
vicinity of great errors,) that man is a moral being 
endued with the power of free choice; and that the 
divine presence cannot exist in him, as a principle of life, 
except with his own consent. Moral life is a different 
thing from mere physical or instinctive life. ‘There is a 
sense in which God is the life of everything. He is the 
life of the earth, the sky, the waters. He is the living 
principle of whatever the earth produces, —of the leaf, the 
flower, the plant, the tree. He is the life also, by means 
of their various and wonderful instincts, of all lower 
animals. But he is their life, in some cases, without 


356 UNION WITH GOD. 


their knowing it at all, because they are not percipient 
existences; and in other cases, without their exhibiting 


any distinct recognition and knowledge, if it is possible _ 


that they have it. But it is not so with moral beings. 
God is and can be the life of such beings, only so far as 
he is so with their own consent. In the words of a 
modern English poet, 


‘¢ Our wills are ours; we know not how; 
Our wills are ours, to make them thine.’’ * 


So that it is not more necessary that God should be our 
life, than it is that we should choose him to be so. If it 
be true that we cannot live without the life of God in 
the soul, it is also true that we cannot have that life 
without our own choice. And the reason is, that the 
principles of moral government, as it exists among beings 
who are subject to the supremacy of a divine govern- 
ment, require, without the exclusion of either, that there 
should be an harmonious action and union of the two in 
one. When God works within us with our own consent 


and in answer to our own prayer, then the human and 


divine may be said to be reconciled, because the work of 
God, by the harmonious adjustment of the two, becomes 
both the work of God and the work of the creature. So 
that it is true, in all cases of holiness actually experienced, 
that the man lives and has a true life; while it is also 
true, and in a still higher sense, that God lives in him. 
4, The consent or choice, of which we have been 
speaking, may not always be formally or expressly — 
given; but it always exists as an element of the ~ 
inward nature. And, accordingly, the alienation or loss | 
of life depends upon. the alienation or withdrawal of 
ronsent. The beings who inhabit other worlds, so far 


* Tennyson. 


UNION IN THE WORK OF REDEMPTION. 30¢ 


‘ as they remain holy beings, have never withdrawn their 
consent, and, consequently, have never fallen. Nothing 
could be so unpleasant to them as to be left to themselves. 
Accordingly, the desire to dethrone and alienate the great 
central principle has never entered their minds. It was 
otherwise with man. He chose to separate himself from 
God by trusting to his own wisdom, and yielding him- 
self to his own desires. He thus lost the true life. And 
as there is and can be but one true life, he necessarily 
died. He lives, it is true; but it is a dead life. He lives 
physically, but is dead morally; he lives in the form, 
but is dead in the spirit. Death is his truth, and life is 
his fiction. So that, though both are true in a certain 
sense, it is the greater truth to say that he is dead. 

5. Returning, therefore, to the leading idea involved 
in these remarks, we proceed to say, that man is restored 
from death just in proportion as he begins to live in and 
from God. And when, by exercising that consent which 
God allows him, he lives wholly from God by choosing 
to live wholly from him, and by exercising faith to that 
effect, then he is-a whole or holy man. ‘Taking the 
common definition, that holiness is entire conformity to 
God’s law, still it is not the definition which makes a 
man holy, but the life of God in the soul. It is God 
within, that makes the definition available. Who prop- 
erly understands God’s law and knows what it is, unless 
he is first taught of God? Who loves God’s law, unless 
love is first inspired within him by the breath of God 
himself? Who obeys God’s law by bringing his will 
into conformity with it, except by the constant aids of 
divine grace ? Yah 

Let it ever be remembered that there is only one that 
is holy in the higher and original sense. And that is G'od. 
All other beings, whatever position they may sustain in 


358 UNION WITH GOD. 


the universe, are holy only as they are holy in and by 
him. If there is anything at variance with the Scrip-_ 
tures, unsound in philosophy, and pernicious in practice, — 
it is the idea of right or holy living from‘one’s self; —_ 
that is to say, by means of the elements of strength and — 
of guidance which he has in himself. It is no more phi- - 
losophical than the doctrine of effect without a cause. — 
Sooner shall the flower grow without the earth and rains — 
to nourish it, or the mighty oak spring from the surface 
of the barren rock, than the soul of man live without — 
having its roots struck, if we may so express it, in the 
bosom of the Infinite; and deriving, not a partnership 
of nourishment, but the whole of its nourishment from 
God. 

6. These views go to confirm some of the principles 
laid down from time to time by writers, whose object it 
is to describe and to inculcate the higher states of reli- 
gious experience. Among other principles, to which I 
have reference in this remark, are these : — personal and 
entire consecration; unwavering faith in God’s accept- 
ance of the consecration when it is once made; and 
that practical conformity of heart and life to God’s provi- 
dences, which is termed living by the moment. And it 
seems to me that this is a proper place briefly to call 
attention to these principles. 

7. And our first remark, in relation to the principle of 
entire consecration, is, that no man can experience the 
highest results of religion, and become a truly holy man, 
unless he has thus consecrated himself to God. We do 
not suppose, however, that this, although it is indispensa- 
ble in the growth of religion in the soul, is ordinarily the 
first thing that takes place. Before a man can conse- 
crate himself to God, he must be led to see that he is 
alienated from God. Conviction of sin, therefore, would 


UNION IN THE WORK OF REDEMPTION. 359 


naturally be the first thing. He could hardly be expect- 
ed to return, until he had first been made sensible of his 
_ departure. But wheh this has been done, when he has 
been made in some degree to see and feel his situation, 
and to apply to Christ for relief, he may reasonably be 
expected, in his new position and in the exercise of a 
new faith, to lay himself, as it is sometimes expressed, 
upon the “altar of sacrifice.’ And in doing this, he 
alters his whole position. Dissatisfied with his past ex- 
perience, he now ceases to look to himself, and to repose 
confidence in himself. In his blindness, of which he 
now for the first time has a proper’ conception, although 
he knew something of it before, he looks to another and 
higher source for light. In his weakness, which he finds 
after a greater or less experience to be universal and 
total, he looks somewhere else for strength. And this 
disposition to renounce himself, and to place himself en- 
tirely in the hands of God for strength and wisdom and 
whatever else is necessary for him, is what is generally 
understood to be meant by consecration. 

But consecration, even when realized in the highest 
sense, is not enough. And, indeed, standing alone, and 
without the aid of other principles and feelings, it seems 
to be wholly unavailable. 

8. And, accordingly, another principle, involved in 
the full or perfect return of the soul to God, is the neces- 
sity of appropriating faith ; — that is to say, faith, that 
he who exercises it, is himself received of God, and that 
God will do in him and for him all that he has promised 
to do. 'To give ourselves to God, in order that we may 
receive him as our life, and at the same time not to 
believe in him as actually becoming our life in accord- 
ance with his promise, is virtually to annul our consecra- 
tion, because it is impossible for us sincerely to consecrate 


360 UNION WITH GOD. 


ourselves to a being, in whom we have not perfect confi- 
dence that he will do what he has promised to do. So 
that faith, as we have now explained the term, is as 
necessary as consecration. 

9. When we have thus fully consecrated ourselves to 
God, and have faith in him, that he does now receive us, 
then the true life, which before was greatly obstructed 
in consequence of the consecration being imperfect or 
partial, flows from God into the soul with greatly in- 


creased freeness. The divine fountain is not only — 


opened, but the obstructions, which had previously ex- 
isted in the recipient, are removed; so that the elements 
of life are not only offered but received; and they grad- 
ually extend, and perhaps very soon, to every part of 
the soul. We now live with a true life; but it remains 
to be said, that we live and can live only by the moment. 

As soon as God, by his in-dwelling presence, becomes 
the inspiration and life of the soul, he inspires in it those 
thoughts and feelings, and those only, which are appro- 
priate to the present time. ‘To every moment of time 
there is but one mental state which is suited. Between 
the circumstances of the time and the correspondent 
attributes of the mental state there is, and necessarily 
must be, a relationship as wise as infinite wisdom, and 
as perfect as infinite adjustment. God himself cannot 
alter it, because he cannot deviate from the perfect to the 
imperfect. God, therefore, as the infinite giver, (that is 
to say, when he is allowed to be and is accepted as the 
infinite giver, ) can give only what he does give; and can 
give it only at the present time. The life, therefore, 
which we live in God, is and can be only life by the 
moment. The stream flows forever, but it strikes upon 
the soul only at the given time. 

10. The man who thus consecrates himself to God, 


UNION IN THE WORK OF REDEMPTION. 361 


and, in the exercise of faith, puts himself in the line of 
divine communication, so that he receives from God his 
knowledge, his feeling, and his purpose, is the truly holy. 
man, because he is the whole man. 


OH SACRED UNION WITH THE PERFECT MIND. 


Oh sacred union with the perfect mind! 
Transcendent bliss, which Thou alone canst give! 

How blest are they, this pearl of price who find, 
And, dead to earth, have learnt in Thee to live! 


Thus, in thine arms of love, O God, le! 
Lost, and forever lost, to all but Thee. 
My happy soul, since it hath learnt to die, 
Hath found new life in thine Infinity. 


O, go, and learn this lesson of the cross! 
And tread the way which saints and prophets trod; 
Who, counting life, and self, and all things loss, 
Have found in inward death the life of God. 


ol 


CHAPTER XI. 


ON UNION WITH GOD IN THE SPIRIT OF PRAYER. 


God, in doing his own work, accepts of man’s agency. — Remarks on 
the operations of the Divine mind. — Illustrations of the subject. — 
Souls in union with God harmonize with the Divine mind in its in- 
ward experiences. — God’s desires and purposes made known, in 
some degree, in the experiences of his people. — Of the power of a 
good man’s prayer. 


Tur work of redemption, in all the various forms in 
which it is carried on, is truly and emphatically God’s 
work. But it is worthy of grateful notice, that our 
heavenly Father, in doing his own work, condescends to 
accept of human agency. Placing the Infinite in alli- 
ance with the finite, he allows man to be a co-worker 
with himself. And one of man’s great works, that work 
without which nothing else is available, 1s prayer. 

But, in saying this, it should be added, that we use the 
term prayer, not in the restricted sense of particular or 
specific supplication, but in the more general sense in 
which it is sometimes employed, namely, as expressive 
of communion with God in all its forms. 

2. In order to illustrate properly the subject of union 
with God in prayer, it is necessary to lay down some 
principles in relation to Divine experience, as it may, 
perhaps, be termed ; — that is to say, in relation to the 
feelings experienced in the mind of God. It is some- 
simes said of God, that, being infinite and perfect, he is 


UNION IN THE WORK OF REDEMPTION. 363 


beyond the reach of emotionality; in other words, is*an 
“‘impassive” existence, a being without feeling. ‘The 
truth seems to us to be directly the opposite. God, so 
far from being the negation, is the perfection of feeling; 
that is to say, he feels, and cannot help feeling, just as 
he ought to feel, on all possible occasions. 

3. This remark we proceed now to illustrate in some 
particulars. And, accordingly, it may be said, in the 
first place, that God, instead of being impassive and 
without sensibility, is a being of desires and aversions. 
Can it be supposed, for instance, that any good takes 
place in the universe, without God’s desiring it to take 
place? And if such a supposition is impossible, it is 
equally so that any evil can take place without causing 
in him feelings of dissatisfaction and aversion. And 
this is not all. He not only desires good to take place, 
but he rejoices in it, when it has taken place. And he 
cannot do otherwise. And, on the other hand, he not 
only disapproves of wrong-doing, and desires that it may 
not take place, but it cannot take place without exciting 
erief in him. 

It is a great and affecting truth, that the infinite God, 
in the true sense of the terms, is grieved with sinners. 
To be indifferent to sin in any of its forms or degrees, 
which is the same thing as being “‘impassive’”’ in view 
‘of sin, is not in his nature. Such a supposition, namely, 
‘the sight of sin without experiencing any emotions, 
would imply, at least, a great imperfection of character. 
And if it is impossible for him to be indifferent to sin, it 
is certainly impossible for him to be pleased with it. To 
be grieved with sin, therefore, to be grieved with an 
infinite grief, is the necessary result of the infinity and 
perfection of his nature. 

4. And it is the same with other feelings. It is prob- 


364 UNION WITH GOD. 


ably not necessary to go through with them in detail. 
It is sufficient to say that God has, and necessarily must 
have, all those feelings which are appropriate to a per- 
fectly wise, benevolent, and holy being. They corre- 
spond to things as they take place; and they vary 
exactly with the changing incidents of those things; 
every shade of alteration in the facts causing a shade of 
alteration in the corresponding feelings. So that it is 
true of the divine mind, that it is constantly in motion 
and constantly at rest at the same time; — the rest, or 
rather the perfect tranquillity, being the result of the per- 
fection of its movement. It is not the rest of inaction, 
but of perfect adjustment; not the rest of impassive 
stagnation, but of emotional and moral harmony. 
5. We proceed now to state, in connection with these 
brief explanations, that the soul, which is fully in the 
experience of divine union, will harmonize perfectly with 
the emotions and desires of the divine mind. If, for 
instance, there are soon to be especial operations of the 
Holy Spirit, and if souls are to be enlightened and 
restored to God, the preparations for such events will 
always exist first in the mind of God himself. It is not 
possible that such things should exist accidentally. 
They are the developments, coming in their appropriate 
order and under appropriate circumstances, of the divine 
thought, of the divine feeling. But if it be true that the’ 
heavings of the billows, whether gently or more power- 
fully, will first show themselves in the great ocean of 
thought and feeling, it will also be true that they will 
excite a correspondent movement in all smaller streams 
and fountains which are in alliance with them. In other 
words, God, in all good works, moves first; and the 
minds of his people, (all those who come within the par- 
ticular sphere of movement, ) move in harmony with him. 


UNION IN THE WORK OF REDEMPTION. 365 


' If God desires a particular thing to take place within 
_ their particular sphere of feeling and action, the desire 
of the Infinite mind sympathetically takes shape and 
develops itself in the finite mind; and the unspoken 
desire of the Father shows itself in the uttered prayer 
of the children. As in nature a small moaning sound 
of the winds often precedes a wide and powerful move- 
ment, so the sighing in the bosoms of the finite denotes 
an approaching movement of far greater power in the 
Infinite. ) 5 

6. In connection with these views we have one of the 
methods given us, by which we discover the particular 
thing or purpose which now exists in the mind of God. 
It is obviously the dictate of the common sense of man- 
kind, that the fact of unity of spirit implies and involves 
the fact of unity of movement. All those who are 
‘born of God,’”’ in the higher sense of the expressions, — 
(for instance, in the sense in which the expressions are 
used in St. John’s epistles,) are in unity with him, whose 
spiritual birth is within them. It is not more true that 
God is their Father, than it is that they are God’s chil- 
dren. ‘They are one; —as the planets are one with the 
sun, as the billow is one with the ocean, as the branch is 
one with the vine, as the son is one with the father. 
And, in the existence of such union, there cannot, as a 
general thing, be a feeling or purpose in one party, with- 
out the existence of a correspondent feeling and purpose 
in the other. ‘There are some limitations and exceptions 
undoubtedly ; but, as a general thing, when we know the 
thoughts of God’s true people, we know God’s thoughts ; 
when we know what God’s true people desire, we know 
what God desires; when we know what the people of 
God are determined to do, we know what God is deter- 
mined to do. 


31l* 


366 - UNION WITH GOD. 


_ 7. And another remark, following from what has been 
said is this: Whenever thou hearest God’s people pray- 
ing, perhaps in yonder little prayer-meeting, perhaps in 
some solitary place in the wilderness, perhaps in the 
desolate and lonely room of some poor widow, then know 
that the day of divine manifestation is near at hand. 
We cannot tell, perhaps, in what direction or in what 
way the manifestation of God’s presence is to be made; 
but we cannot doubt the general fact that it is approach- 
ing. 

All persons whose fulness of faith has brought them 
into the state of union with God, know this to be the 
case. ‘They know (without knowing how they know 
it) that the movement of desire in their own souls, aris- 
ing sometimes under remarkable circumstances and in 
a remarkable way, is the continuation, the distant but 
affiliated throbbing, of the great heart of the universe, 
And with such a conviction existing in their minds, it 
obviously becomes easy, and, perhaps we may say, neces- 
sary for them, to exercise that particular form of faith 
which is appropriate to their state of desire. Having, 
therefore, a desire for a particular thing, and believing 
that this desire is only the vibration from the great cen- 
tre, the finite repetition of the infinite desire, they cannot 
doubt that there will be a manifestation of God, corre- 
spondent to that form of inward feeling which exists in 
him as well as in themselves. 

8. If what has been said is correct, then it may prop- 
erly be added, that there is something not only impres-— 
sive but sublime, and almost terrible, in a holy man’s 
prayer; whether it take the form of supplication, or 
of blessing, or of praise. ‘That praying voice which 
thou hearest, broken though it-may be-with weakness 
and trembling with age, is not more the voice of man 


UNION IN THE WORK OF REDEMPTION. 367 


than of God. Oh, do not trifle with it, if thou wouldst 
not trifle with God himself! Uttered in these last days, 
it is nevertheless true, that, in its attributes of origin and 
power, it is the voice of Abraham, of Moses, of Daniel; 
—men who had power with God, because God had 
power with them. It is the chain of communication 
between two worlds; the circumference, showing the 
light and heat of the centre. It brings down the sun- 
light of God’s favor, or the lightning of his displeasure. 
If it curses thee, then thou art cursed; if it blesses thee, 
then thou art blessed. If it expresses itself in pity, then 
the tear of compassion is falling upon thee from the 


omniscient eye. Listen reverently, therefore, to the 


good man’s prayer. God is in it. 


GHAPTER XII. 


ON THE RELATION OF THE CHARACTER OF MAN TO THE 
HAPPINESS OF GOD. 


Holy beings constitute one of the elements of divine happiness. — God 
rejoices in his own nature; especially in the principle of holy love. 

" — The joy thus arising is not so much by means of a reflex act, as 
by direct consciousness. — A second source of joy found in the 
contemplation of the happiness and holiness of his creatures — 
Remarks. 


Gop is happy. Being infinite, he is infinitely happy. 
And it is interesting to know that holy beings, in what- 
ever parts of the universe they exist, constitute one of 
the elements of the divine happiness. ‘This being the 
case, there is such a thing (and it is certainly a most 
interesting and important consideration) as being united 
with God in the promotion of his own happiness. The 
humblest soul, when purified by divine grace, becomes a 
gem in the crown of the Infinite F'ather’s bliss. 

2. Undoubtedly the elements of the divine happiness 
are various. God, for instance, is happy in the knowl- 
edge of his own perfections; and especially is he hap- 
py in the consciousness that the central principle or 
life of his nature, that which brings the infinity of his 
natural attributes into action, is holy love. Most readily 
do we admit that he rejoices in his natural attributes 
also, in his inherent and universal knowledge, in his 
omnipresence and omnipotence; but more than all and 


UNION IN THE WORK OF REDEMPTION. 369 


above all does he rejoice in that living and life-giving 
principle, which saves his merely natural attributes from 
evil applications, and renders them available to the high- 
est purposes. 

3. And the exceeding happiness which God thus ex- 
periences is not the result exclusively, nor chiefly, of a 
reflex act. Some writers seem to suppose (at least such 
would be the interpretation of their language if taken in 
its natural and obvious import) that God sits alone in 
an infinite solitude, and is happy chiefly by means of 
such an act; that is to say, by means of the mind turned 
back in acts of contemplation on its own inward nature. 
It seems to us better, and more in accordance with the 
divine nature, to say that God is happy, not so much by 
a series of reflective and deductive acts, as by direct con- 
SCLOUSNESS. * 

Consciousness of happiness takes place when the hap- 
piness, flowing out naturally and necessarily from the 
existing states of the mind, pervades the mind and makes 
itself known without any care or effort on the part of 
the percipient subject. He, who loves with pure love, is 
happy; because happiness is a part of love’s nature. 
Happiness, although there may be causes of affliction, 
which will diminish the amount of it at times, never was 
separated, and never can be separated, from love. 'T’o 
speak figuratively in the matter, happiness is the smile 
of love, and it sits just as naturally and beautifully upon 
love’s countenance, as the smile does upon the counte- 
nance of any pure and benevolent being. Or, to use 
another illustration, it is love’s bright and eternal seal 
engraven upon it with letters of light. ‘They are thus 
connected by an eternal relationship. And God can be 
no more unconscious of happiness in love, than he can 
be unconscious of love itself. 


370 UNION WITH GOD. 


4, But, although what has been said is a great and i 


interesting truth, it is not all. There is another view of 


the subject. God’s nature, including all his acts and — 


feelings, corresponds precisely to the truth and relations 


of things. If he is a perfect being, it cannot be other- ‘ 


wise. It is not possible for him, being what he is, to 
sunder himself from the things he has made, and from 
the relations they sustain to himself and each other; 
nor to act otherwise, and to be otherwise, than in perfect 
consistency with such things and relations. 

5. Among other works which are to be attributed to 
him, God has formed moral agents. Of all his various 
works, this is, in some respects, the greatest. He has 
formed angels; he has formed men. 'The mere fact that 
he has made them, which involves the additional fact of 
the relationship of cause and effect, in other words, of 
father and child, constitutes an alliance, which is both 
an alliance of morality and an alliance of the affections. 
In other words, he is allied to them by duty and allied to 
them by love. 

If God is a good and holy being, it is not possible for 
him to create a being or beings susceptible of happiness, 
without making provision for their happiness, and with- 
out rejoicing in their happiness. 'To be indifferent to 
and not to rejoice in the happiness of his creatures, 
would be the characteristic of an evil and not of a good 
being. But no moral being which God has created can 
be truly and permanently happy without loving God and 


all other beings as God would have them love; in other 


words, without being holy. We come, then, to the con- 
clusion, that another and very great source of God’s 
happiness is the contemplation of the holiness and hap- 
piness of his creatures. If they are holy, they cannot 


% 


sosaieecneneeeenemeentemmttt aia 


UNION IN THE WORK OF REDEMPTION. 871 


be otherwise than happy; and if they are happy, God 
must be happy in them. 

_ 6. The sources of God’s happiness, therefore, are two- 
fold ; — first, that simple but ever-flowing consciousness 
of happiness which has already been mentioned; and, 
second, the contemplation of his perfections, as they are 
imaged forth and realized objectively, that is to say, 
in the hearts and lives of his creatures. The moral 
universe around him, when unpolluted by sin, is the 
bright mirror of himself. It is the beauty, therefore, of 
his own being, seen in the infinitude of holy beings 
whom he has created, —the light of true glory kindled up 
in all parts of the universe, and reflected back upon the 
central fountain of light,— which constitutes a large share 
of his ineffable bliss. Considered in relation to the 
beings he has made, God may properly be regarded as 
the great moral centre, as the sun in the vast system of 
holy love, rejoicing in the infinite number of stars which 
his own radiance has kindled up around him. 

7. These views seem to us to justify the remark made 
at the commencement of the chapter, namely, that the 
holiness of the creatures of God is one of the great ele- 

ments of his happiness. ‘The doctrine that the happiness 
of God rests for its support, in part at least, upon the 
holiness of his creatures, is one of great interest to men. 
It furnishes a new motive to holy effort. Everything 
we do has its correspondent result in the divine mind. 
There is not a throb in our bosoms, beating in the direc- 
tion of pure and universal love, which does not excite 
joy in the bosom of our heavenly Father. It is not more 
true that angels rejoice, than it is that God rejoices, over 
every return from sin and every advance in holiness. 

It is hardly possible to conceive of a higher result in 
the destiny of man than that which thus contributes to 


- 


372 UNION WITH GOD. 


the happiness of God. 'The thought, therefore, should 
animate us in all our efforts, namely, that God sees us; 
that he takes an interest in all our acts and feelings; 
and that when we are good our Father is happy. 'The 
light of our little star goes back to its parent sun. "The 
small wave of our little fountain swells the broad billow | 
of the mighty ocean. Can there be a higher motive to 
action than this ? 

Then let us labor on. God works. Let us work with 
him. Let us suffer, if needs be. Yea, let us rejoice in 
suffering; but neither in toil nor in suffering trusting to 
ourselves, but rather ‘‘ looking unto Jesus, the author and 
finisher of our faith; who, for the joy that was set before 
him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set 
down at the right hand of the throne of God.” 


PART EIGHTH. 


OF THE PEACE OR REST OF THE SOUL IN A STATE OF UNION. 


CHAPTER I. 


ON THE TRUE IDEA OF A SOUL AT REST. 


Rest, the result of the soul’s advancement in religious experience. — Of 
counterfeits of the true rest. — Circumstances under which true rest 
exists. — Illustrations of the subject from the natural world. — Also 
from moral beings. — Application of the principles laid down to men. 


Havine thus completed the series of topics, which most 
naturally presented themselves to notice in connection 
with the subject of Divine Union, it remains only to con- 
sider the general aspect or appearance of the soul, which 
has once more united itself with its true source of life. 
And this may be done in a few words by saying, it is a 
soul in rest or peace. | 

2, Even in the beginning of its renovated life, when 
it first finds the blessedness of forgiveness, the soul ex- 
periences a degree of peace. But, compared with what 
it is subsequently, it is limited both in degree and per- 
manency. At the early period to which we now refer, 
the soul finds rest from the condemnation of past sins, 
without finding rest from the sharpness of inward con- 
flicts, from doubts, uncertainties, and heavy temptations. 
As it advances in religious experience, the elements of 
rest develop themselves. When, by the crucifixion of 

32 


374 DIVINE UNION. 


self and the full resurrection of a new and purified spirit, 
it has become one with its heavenly Father, it then has 
a peace or rest approaching that of the heavenly world. 
“Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace,” says the prophet 
Isaiah, ‘‘ whose mind is stayed on Thee, because he 
trusteth in Thee.” 

3. It is important to understand correctly in what true 
rest or peace of the soul consists. ‘There is a rest which 
is More so in appearance than reality; just as there is a 
semblance, a counterfeit of humility, of benevolence, and 
of other Christian graces. ‘There are some persons whose 
apparent rest is to be ascribed to natural inertness or 
stupidity, and not to the sanctified adjustment of their 
powers. ‘The true rest, however, is not to be regarded 
as identical with inaction. A 

The rest of the soul, in the highest spiritual sense of 
the terms, is that state of the soul, whether it be in re- 
pose or in action, which is in harmony with God. 'There 
is only one right position of the soul. All others must 
necessarily be wrong. And that position is one where 
the creature is brought into perfect adjustment with the 
Creator, by deriving its perceptions from God, by merg- 
ing its affections in God’s affections, and by harmonizing 
its will with God’s will. In such a state of the soul 
there must necessarily be rest, if God has rest. 

4. Of rest, as thus explained, —the rest, not of inaction, 
but of harmony of position, —we have illustrations every- 
where. In this view of it, physical nature is at rest. It 
is impossible to look on the mingled expanse of land and 
water, of field and forest, without a deep sense of har- 
mony and repose. The various objects which nature 
thus presents to us, ‘‘from the cedar of Lebanon to the 
hyssop that springeth out of the wall,” are arranged in 
their appropriate place, and are clothed in strength and 


THE SOUL’S REST IN UNION. 875 


beauty, but without the turmoil of labor. As their rest 
is the rest of harmony, a rest appropriate to their nature 
and involved in the fulfilment of their own laws of life, 
it is necessarily incidental to their growth and perfection. 
They grow in rest;—they shine in rest. Their rest, 
therefore, is at the same time their work. But their 
work, great as it is in extent, and wonderful in its varie- 
ty, is always accomplished without effort and without 
the sense of fatigue. ‘‘ Behold the lilies of the field. 
They toil not, neither do they spin. And yet I say unto 
you, that molomen, in all his glory, was not arrayed like 
one of these.” | 

Again, we may find an illustration of the subject in 
the aspect of repose, the beautiful stillness which charac- 
terizes the heavenly bodies, when seen in a cloudless sky 
at night. The beautiful orbs which then spangle and 
adorn the heavenly vault, are always in motion; always 
fulfilling the ends for which they were made; but, at the 
same time, they are never in a state of discordance and 
unrest, because their movement always harmonizes with 
law. Their constant motion, as in the language of an 
English poet, they “wheel unshaken through the void 
immense,” does not cost them more labor than that con- 
stant proclamation of God’s greatness, which the Scrip- 
tures ascribe to them. And it is not more wonderful 
that they should move in rest, and fulfil their destiny 
without labor, than that they should thus proclaim the 
glory of God by the mere perfection of their being, “‘ with- 
out speech or language.”* Both are the developments, 
the unconstrained but necessary results, of their own 
nature, and of their perfect adjustment to the facts and 
release of things. 3 

5. But if material existences may be described as being 


* Psalm 19: 1—3. 


i 


376 DIVINE UNION. 


in a state of rest while fulfilling the laws and purposes 
for which they exist, we may be certain that this may 
be said, with equal or greater truth, of all sentient and 
moral beings. All such beings, in conformity with that 
eternal wisdom which assigns to everything its place and 
its laws, have their sphere of action, their orbit of move- 
ment. By their capabilities of perception, feeling, and 
action, they are as precisely fitted to their sphere of 
movement as the material bodies which move and shine 
in the heavens, or as any classes of animated existences 
below them, all of which have their place, their sphere, 
their laws, their destination. And in the sphere which is 
thus allotted them, in their appropriate place and under 
their appropriate laws, they fulfil the ends of their exist- 
ence by action carried on without any care or labor, 
which is inconsistent with true peace. 

In making these remarks, we speak, of course, of their 
original constitution; of what they were designed to be; 
and of what they are, so long as they do not deviate 
from the principles and designs, in view of which they 
were formed. So long as this is the case, there will 
always be found to be a harmony of position, a truth and 
harmony of movement, which will always be character- 
ized by peace. And on no other condition can it be said 
of them that they are either right in morals or happy in 
experience. Angels, for instance, have their sphere of 
life. To that sphere they are undoubtedly limited. And 
so long as they do not deviate from it, they exist in and 
have the experience of true spiritual rest; not stupid, 
not inactive, not without thought, feeling, and purpose; 
but always in the perfection of repose, because always 
in the perfect harmony of physical and moral position. 
If they were otherwise than they are, if there were 
the least variation of adjustment in place or in action, 


THE SOUL’S REST IN UNION. 307 


their rest would be disquieted, their joyous repose be 
broken. 

6. But the truth and perfect emblem of all rest is God 
himself; —the infinite rest, the eternal peace, the just 
and unalterable tranquillity. He is in peace, because he 
is in the truth. The truth is in him; it encircles him, 
and proceeds forth from him. All things, which are 
made, are formed in accordance with those true and eter- 
nal ideas, which are inherent in the divine mind. Every 
action which proceeds from God is in harmony with the 
truth; every thought, also, which comes from the same 
source, is in harmony with the same truth. God could 
not possibly act, or think, or feel, otherwise than he does, 
without an infringement of the truth and right of things, 
and without placing himself in a false and wrong atti- 
tude. And this is the foundation of his rest. Like the 
sun in the midst of the solar system, while he is the 
source of movement and power to all things that exist, 
he acts without labor, controls without effort, occupying 
a centre which is unchangeable, because perfection can 
never have more than one centre, and resting there with 
perfect rest and peace of spirit, because his mighty 
thoughts and purposes all harmonize with his position. 

7. If God rests by having his centre in himself, man 
may rest by having his centre in God; and the rest of 
man, having its supports in the Infinite Mind, may pos- 
sess the same attributes as the rest of the Divinity. So 
that man derives his rest or peace of spirit from God, as 
he derives everything else from the same source. And 
just in proportion as we approach to quietness of spirit, 
founded on just principles, we approach in similitude to 
God. It is the quietist, — the man who moves unshaken 
in the sphere and path which God has marked out for 
him, unelated by joy, undepressed by sorrow, unallured 

32* 


378 DIVINE UNION. 


by temptations, unterrified by adversities, —it is this man, 
bearing about always the divine calmness of his crucified 
Elder Brother, who is truly godlike. And, just so far 
as he is like God in character, he is like him in inward 
tranquillity. 

And it is such views as these which furnish the true 
explanation of the words of the Saviour, which conveyed 
to his followers his parting legacy: ‘(Peace I leave with 
you. My peace I give unto you.” 


—— 


‘TIS NOT IN VAIN THE MIND. 


°T is not in vain the mind, 
By many a tempest driven, 
Shall seek a resting-place to find, 
A calm like that of heaven. 


The weak one and dismayed, 
Scarce knowing where to flee, 
How happy, when he finds the aid 
That comes alone from Thee! 


In Thee, oh God, is REST! — 
Rest from the world’s desires, 
From pride that agitates the breast, 
From passion’s angry fires. 


In Thee is rest from fear, 
That brings its strange alarm; 
And sorrow, with its rising tear, 
Thou hast the power to calm 


CHAPTER. TE, 


i 
THE SOUL IN UNION RESTS FROM REASONINGS. 


Introductory remarks. — The irreligious man given to questionings 
and reasonings. — Reasons of this. — Different with the man who is 
in harmony with God.— The holy man. rests from reasonings. — 
Explanations. — Reasonableness and necessity of the view given. — 
The Saviour on the sea of Tiberias. — Remarks. 


From the remarks made in the last chapter, we may 
understand the general nature of that rest which the 
soul experiences when it is brought into union with God. 
It is the rest of harmony, and not the rest of inaction ;— 
a rest, calm and triumphant, which may justly be re- 
garded as a foretaste of the heavenly world. It is a rest, 
however, which is susceptible of analysis, and which 
will be better understood by being considered in some 
particulars. We proceed, therefore, without proposing to 
exhaust the subject, to state more particularly, though 
briefly, some of its elements. 

2. Among other things which will be mentioned in 
their order, the soul, in the highest results of spiritual 
experience, rests from reasonings. ‘The reverse of this 
proposition is true in respect to those, who have never 
experienced the power and the guidance of religious sen- 
timents. It is difficult for the soul, so long as it remains 
in a state of alienation from God, to suppress or avoid 
reasonings. It reasons, because it has lost the God of 


380 DIVINE UNION. 


God is not more the centre of the life of the soul, than - 


he is the centre of all truth; that is to say, he does not 


move the soul more to right action, than he does to right — 


perception. When God is displaced from his centre in 
the soul, the relations of truth, considered as the subjects 


of our perceptions, are entirely unsettled. It is then 


that man, cast as it were on an ocean without soundings 
and without shore, knows not where he is, nor what he 
is. He resorts to reasoning, therefore, from the necessity 
of his position. So great are his perplexities, that he is 
obliged to reason. He doubts, he inquires, he compares, 
he draws conclusions, he pronounces judgment. His 
whole mental nature is in action, without its being the 
action of rest, the quiet movement of the divine order. 
Perhaps it is well that it should be so, until, by making 
inquiries without results, and without finding the true 
rest of the spirit, he feels the necessity of turning to God 
in humility, who is the only source of truth for the un- 
derstanding, and of pacification for the heart. 

3. It is different with the truly holy soul. The soul, 
which is united with God in the full exercise of faith, 
rests from reasonings. In order to understand this prop- 
osition, however, it is proper to say something in expla- 
nation of the terms used init. ‘The term rest Is relative. 
It has relation to and implies the existence of the oppo- 
site, namely, unquietness or unrest. ‘The term REAson- 
ING, is the name of that important intellectual power 
which compares and combines truth, in order to discover 
new truth. Under a divine direction, this power is sus- 
ceptible of useful applications and results. It is then 
entirely calm in its action, and is consistent with the 


highest peace and joy of the spirit. ‘To rest from such — 


reasonings, from reasonings which do not disturb rest, 
would be an absurdity. Such rest would be cessation 


ha NRE 
or a= 


ae 


Se 
— . > 


PRAT TT 


THE SOUL’S REST IN UNION. 381 


from action, and not rest or quietude 7 action. When, 
therefore, the remark is made by spiritual writers, that 
the truly renewed soul has rest from reasonings, the 
meaning is, that it has rest from the vicious and per- 
plexing reasonings of nature; in other words, from rea- 
sonings which are not from God. It is certainly a great 
religious grace to be free from such reasonings. 

4. He who has no rest, except what he can find in 
reasonings, (we mean such reasonings as have just been 
described,) can never enjoy the true rest, because such 
reasoning never can give it. It is not an instrument 
adequate to such a result. And it may properly be 
added here, that there are some mysteries in the universe 
which reasoning, in any of its forms, has not power to 
solve. ‘l'o a created mind, for instance, a mind which is 
uncreated must always be a mystery. From the nature 
of the case, God is a mystery to the human mind, be- 
cause, being uncreated, he is, and always must be, 
incomprehensible. Incomprehensible in his nature, he is 
incomprehensible also in many of his creative and ad- 
ministrative acts. The apostle, in speaking of the 
depths of God’s wisdom, exclaims: ‘ How unsearchable 
are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!” 
Rom. 11: 33. Well may those judgments be called 
unsearchable, and those ways past finding out, which 
pertain to the Infinite. It is obviously impossible that 
the finite should fully explore them. 

5. As, therefore, there is a multitude of things which 
reasoning cannot resolve, all attempts to satisfy ourselves 
on such subjects must be attended with disquiet and 
anxiety. And the mind which is fully right with God, 
will not be likely to make such an attempt. ‘The true 
wisdom is, to wish to know all that God would have us 
to know; to employ our perception and reasoning under 


382 DIVINE UNION. 


a divine guidance, and to seek nothing beyond that limit. 
All beyond that we may properly and safely leave, know- 
ing that all things work together for the good of those — 
who love God. = 

We may illustrate our position, perhaps, by comparing ' 
ourselves to persons on a voyage. Providence is the 
vessel, if we may so speak, in which we are embarked, 
and in which we are borne on over the vicissitudes of 
our allotment, over the waves of changing time. The 
vessel, in a world like this, where good and evil are con- | 
flicting, may be tossed with violence; but the mariners 
should be calm. Let the vessel float on. 'The winds 
and the currents are not accidents ; but every movement — 
of them, every rolling wave, every breath of wind, is © 
under a divine control. The pilot is awake when he 
seems to sleep. The rest of God is not the rest of weak- 
ness or of forgetfulness, but the rest of security. And 
his work is not the less effectual and the less certain, 
because it is done ‘‘ without observation.” It is our 
business, when we have done all that he has commanded 
us, to leave the result with him, without fear and with- 
out questions. 

The vessel which bore the Saviour over the sea of | 
Tiberias, was tossed by the storm. His disciples came 
to him in great agitation, and called upon him for help. 
In quieting the raging of the tempest, he thought it a 
suitable occasion to rebuke them for giving themselves 
up so easily to the reasonings and fears of unbelieving ~ 
nature. ‘And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful," 
O ye of little faith! Then he arose and rebuked the 
winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. But the 
men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that 
even the winds and the sea obey him?” 

6. During some years past, there have been great 


THE SOUL’S REST IN UNION. 383 


' changes and perplexities in nations. All the positions of 


society have been reversed; problems have been started 


_ which affect the basis of civilization; governments have 


been overturned; the low have been elevated to places 
of power; and the great have been driven into exile or 
cast into dungeons. The man of the world reasons; 
politicians gather up the letters of history, and try to 
spell something which will disclose the mysteries of the 
future. But God keeps his own counsels. ‘The wheels 
of his vast government move on. But he who trusts in 


‘God is not troubled. His belief in the Creator harmo- 


nizes and triumphs over the confusions of the creature. 
And faith is calm, where reason is confounded. 

7. Thou who seekest the truth! Having exercised 
thy reason, till thou findest there is no peace in it, rest at 
last in the God of reason. Link the weakness of finite 
wisdom to the strength of Infinite wisdom. What thou 
knowest not, believe that God knows. Blindfolded to the 
future, nevertheless walk on, with God’s hand to guide 
thee. And thus accept the fulness and strength of Infi- 
nite wisdom, which is pledged to all those who have faith, 
as a compensation for the deficiencies and weakness of 
thineown. God will work out problems for the humility 
of faith, which he hides from the confidence of unsancti- 
fied deduction. And thus the truly humble and devout 
Christian, who knows nothing but his Bible, will have 
more true peace of spirit than the unbelieving philoso- 
pher. 


CHAPTER III. 


THE SOUL IN UNION RESTS FROM DESIRES. 


Rest from desires a different thing from the extinction of desires. — 
Two classes of desires ; — those attended with faith, and those which 
are not so. — Desires attended with faith are in accordance with the 
will of God, and are peaceful. — God’s nature, as well as his prom- 
ises, pledged in behalf of the man who has faith. 


Tue soul that is wholly given to God, not only rests 
from disquieting and unprofitable reasonings, (the subject 
remarked upon in the last chapter, ) but also from desires. 
Rest from desires, however, is a different thing from the 
extinction of desires. It would be incorrect to suppose 
that desires, in their various forms and modifications, are 
always wrong, or always attended with anxiety. ‘The 
rest from desires, which the holy soul experiences, is a 
rest from all such desires as do not harmonize with the 
will of God. All desires, which are not in unity with 
the divine desires and purposes, are disquieting and full 
of trouble. 

2. How many persons are the subjugated slaves of 
those inordinate appetites, which have their origin in our 
physical nature! How many are not merely agitated, 
but consumed as it were, by the desire of accumulating 
property! How general and strong is the desire of repu- 
tation! Many, in whom other desires are perhaps com- 
paratively feeble, spend anxious days and toilsome nights 


al 


THE SOUL’S REST IN UNION. 385 


_ in seeking for power. But the truly holy person, whose 
great and only desire is that the will of the Lord may 
be done, has no dcsire of these things, or of any other 
things, except so far as God may see fit to inspire them. 
And all desires which harmonize with God’s arrange- 
ments, and have their origin in a divine inspiration, are 
peaceful and happy. 

3. “Love, pure love,” says Mr. Fletcher, in some re- 
marks addressed to Christians professing holiness, ‘is 
satisfied with the supreme good, with God. Beware, 
then, of desiring anything but Him. Now you desire 
nothing else. Every other desire is driven out; see that 
none enter in again. Keep thyself pure; let your eye 
remain single, and your whole body shall remain full of 
light. Admit no desire of pleasing food, or, any other 
pleasure of sense; no desire of pleasing the eye or the 
imagination; no desire of money, of praise, or esteem ; 
of happiness in any creature. You may bring these 
desires back; but you need not. You may feel them no 
more. Oh, sai fast in the mrp wherewith Christ 
hath made you free!” 

4, This passage, written by a man of deep religious 
experience, clearly involves and sanctions the doctrine 
that holy souls rest from all desires, except such as are 
from a divine source. There are, then, two classes of 
desires ;— those which are the product of a fallen and 
unsanctified nature, and those which are from God. Agi- 
tation and sorrow always attend the one class. ‘True 
peace, the peace of Christ and of angels, is the charac- 
teristic of the other. 

And we proceed now to say, that the ground of differ- 
ence between them is this: Desires which are from God. 
are attended with faith ; and those which are not from 
him are without faith. The man of the world is full of 

33 


386 DIVINE UNION. 


desires; but being constantly in doubt whether his de- 
sires will be accomplished or not, he is constantly the 
subject of agitation and grief. But the holy man, being — 
the subject of those desires only which God has inspired 
within him, cannot doubt that God, who is never disap- 
pointed, will fulfil them in his own time and way. Hav-_ 
ing thus two facts in his mental experience at the same — 
time, namely, desire and a belief in the fulfilment of 
desire, the element of. uneasiness, which is involved in 
the wants of the one, is annulled by the pleasure which 
is involved in the supply or fulness of the other. In> 
other words, faith stops the cravings of desire, by being — 
itself the ‘‘ swbstance”’ or fulfilment of its object; so that 
constant desire, supposing it to be constantly existing, is 
changed into constancy of fruition, constancy of peace. 

5. In saying, therefore, that the holy man ceases from 
desires, we mean that he ceases from worldly desires; 
and in ceasing from such desires he has peace of soul. 
Does he desire food and clothing? Being limited in his — 
desire by what is necessary for him, and by what God — 
approves in him, he believes that God will see his wants 
supplied. And thus he is without anxiety. Does he 
desire a good name among men? As he desires it only 
that God may be glorified, and only so far as God allows — 
him to desire it, he has faith that he will receive, and — 
that he does now receive, so much of the world’s favor- _ 
able opinion as is best for him; and he asks and wants _ 
no more. God, who inspired the desire, has answered it | 
at the moment; and he is perfectly satisfied. Does he | 
desire power? Ashe desires no power but God’s power, — 
and such as God shall give him, he receives now, in the — 
“evidence” and the “substance” of his faith, the very, 
thing which he asks; and having nothing in possession, — 
and everything by the omnipotence of belief, he can 


THE SOUL’S REST IN UNION. 387 


‘ almost say with the Saviour, “‘ Thinkest thou that I can- 


not now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give 
me more than twelve legions of angels?”? And then he 
adds, with a still higher degree of faith, ‘‘ But how then 
shall the Scriptures be fulfilled that, thus it must be 2”? 
He does not desire, and does not ask, any power or any 
assistance which is inconsistent with God’s present 
arrangements. 

6. Aided by such views, we may possess a distinct 
and impressive appreciation of many passages of Scrip- 
ture. “Consider the lilies of the field,” says the Sav- 
iour, ‘‘how they grow. ‘They toil not; neither do they 
spin. And yet I say unto you, that even Solomon, in all 
his glory, was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, 
if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to-day is, 
and to-morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much 
more clothe you, oh, ye of little faith!” “Trust in the 
Lord,” says the Psalmist, ‘‘and do good :—so shalt thou 
dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.” ‘For 
the Egyptians,” it is said in the prophet Isaiah, ‘shall 
help in vain, and to no purpose. Therefore, have I cried 
concerning this, their strength is to sit still.” That is to 
say, it is better to trust in God and to wait quietly for 
the manifestations of his providence, than to adopt, any 
means or trust in any aid which he does not approve. 


_ Matt. 6: 28—20. Ps. SUA esti: Eee le vad 


To the holy soul, which has no desires but God’s 
desires, and which does not doubt, such promises are 
realities. 

7. We would add here one remark more. It is well 
sometimes to remember, that the good which is promised 
to God’s people is sure to them, not only because it is 
promised, but because it is a necessary result of the excel- 
lences of the dwine nature. There is a love, a mercy 


388 DIVINE UNION. 


back of the promise, from which the promise originated ; 
—not only God’s word, but his nature is pledged. 

In giving ourselves to God, (as all holy persons profess 
to do and must do,) we do not do it in part only. We. 
not only renounce ourselves in the strict sense of the 
terms, but also the means of supporting ourselves ;—not 
only our persons, but all earthly and finite dependencies. 
We not only give ourselves to God, to be servants to do 
his work, but to be sons, whom it is his delight to pro- 
vide for. The support of those whom God has adopted 
into his family, and who are properly called his SONS, 
ceases to be a contingency. It is only when and so long 
as we are out of God, and are separate from him, that we 
are left to our own wretched resources. In all other 
situations, it is not only a truth, but a necessity, that God 
should provide for us. If God had never promised to 
clothe, and feed, and watch over, his people, it would 
nevertheless have been done, because the holiness as 
well as the benevolence of his nature necessarily requires 
it. In other words, it is his nature to give where there 
is a disposition to receive;—to fill the hand which is 
truly open to take what is presented to it. His promise 
is only the expression of his nature. 

It is thus, that, in having nothing, by mingling our 
desires with the divine desires, we have all things. The 
loss of ourselves by the moral union of ourselves with | 
God, is necessarily the possession of God. In God is 
. the fulfilment of our desires. In God, therefore, there is 
rest. 


CHAPTER IV. 


THE SOUL IN UNION RESTS FROM THE REPROOFS OF CON- 
SCIENCE. * 


Of the conflicts of those who are but partially sanctified. — Different 
state of those whose hearts are filled with love. — References to the 
Scriptures. — Explanation of the remarks found in Madame Guyon 
and others. — Holy persons not only freed from the reproofs of con- 
science, but moved to action by holy love rather than by feelings of 
constraint. — Of the peace and happiness of such. 


In analyzing and explaining the elements of that pure 
and heavenly peace, which our Saviour has left both as 
the inheritance and the characteristic of truly holy souls, 
we proceed to remark, further, that they are at rest from 
the reproofs of conscience. 'This is a state of things very 
different from that which is experienced by souls that 
are only partially united with God. The latter, as they 
are going through the transition state from love com- 
mencing to love completed, have a constant conflict in 
themselves. ‘Their inward good and evil are arrayed in 
opposition to each other. ‘They see the right; but they 
continue, in some degree at least, to follow the wrong. 
And just so far as this is the case, they are under con- 
demnation. And under such circumstances, they cannot 
fail to be uneasy and unhappy. : 


* See in connection with this chapter the remarks in Chap. VIII., Pt. 
2d, on the religion of love as compared with that of obligation. 


33* 


390. DIVINE UNION. 


2. It is not so with the soul which is given to God 


without reserve, and which loves him with the whole — 


heart. Such a soul, renovated and purified by the Holy 
Spirit, may be said to be clothed with innocence; or, if 


such expressions should be considered as too strong by — 
some, certain it is, that conscience does not condemn it. 
‘‘'There is no condemnation,’’ says the apostle Paul, ‘‘to — 


them which are in Christ Jesus; who walk not after the 
flesh, but after the Spirit.’ In the epistles of John, also, 
are expressions, which distinctly recognize the state of 
freedom from condemnation. 

3. And this explains a remark which we sometimes 
find in the lives of devoted Christians. It seems to them, 
as they sometimes say, as if they had lost their con- 
science. In the writings of Madame Guyon,* both in 
the work entitled the ‘‘ Torrents,’’ and also in her “ Let- 
_ters,’’ there are repeated references to this peculiar state 
of experience. ‘I'he expressions which such persons em- 
ploy have their foundation in the contrast of the present 
with their past position. They think they have lost 
their conscience, because they are not now the subjects of 
a certain mode of its activity. Formerly their good was 
so much mixed with evil, that they were constantly the 
subjects, more or less, of inward admonition; so much 
so, that this seemed to them almost the whole office of 


conscience. And, accordingly, when they experienced a _ 


higher degree of love, and no longer felt the need of such 
admonitions and reproofs, they seemed, in the absence of 
its chastisements, to have lost conscience itself. 

4. After a while they learn that conscience, operating 
differently in the evil and the good, has its smiles as well 
as its frowns; and that its action is felt in that internal 


approbation which constantly attends them. Angels | 


* Les Torrens, Pt. II., Ch. 2,$3. Lettres, Vol. V., Let. 22, § 6. 


THE SOUL’S REST’ IN UNION. 391 


have conscience; God has conscience; but they never 
feel its lash; nor is it possible for them, while they 
remain what they are, ever to know its existence as a 
part of their own nature, except by the approbation of 
its smiles. ‘The cessation or rest, therefore, which the 
persons to whom we allude experience, is not a cessation 
from conscience, but only from the condemnation of 
conscience. 

5. And this is notall. ‘There isa rest, in holy persons, 
not only from the reproofs or condemnations of con- 
science, (a view which naturally arrests our attention in 
the first instance,) but also, with proper explanations of 
the remark, from the compulsory or constraining power 
of conscience. 'The constraints of conscience, (which is 
only another expression for those coercive feelings of ob- 
ligation which require us to pursue a right course,) pre- 
cede action; while the reproofs of conscience, on the 
other hand, follow action. The holy soul, the soul which 
has passed from a mixed state to a state where holy love 
becomes the exclusive principle of action, does not ap- 
‘pear to experience, and certainly not to be conscious of, 
those compulsory influences to which we have referred. 
It does not feel the reproofs of conscience, because it does 
not de wrong. It does not feel the compulsions or con- 
straints of conscience, because, being moved by perfect 
love, it fulfils the will of God, and does right without 
constraint. 

And is there, in fact, any occasion for such constraint? 
Where love is perfect, the motive involved in the con- 
straining power of conscience is not felt, because it is 
not needed. ‘The subject of such love is re-constituted 
with a new element of holy affection, with a love-being 
or love-existence, such as it never had before. It has 
treely given itself to God to be moved by him ; — and he 


392 DIVINE UNION. 


moves it by making it a ‘‘ partaker of the divine nature.” 
So that from this time such an one may be said to act by 
nature, and not by constraint; by a self-moved life at 
the centre, and not by a compulsive instigation, which 
has no higher office than to guard and compel the centre. 
In having a life of love, flowing first from God, and then 
from the centre of our spirits, we have that and the 
whole of that which the constraining instigation of con- 
science requires; and, this being done, its office in this 
respect practically ceases. It would be a work of super- 
erogation to drive a soul which goes without driving. 
Accordingly it is at once appeased in its anger, and quiet 
in its anxiety. It lays aside its admonitions as well as its 
scourge; and, as pleased with the good as it is displeased 
with the wicked, it strews our path with flowers. 

6. Thus the soul has rest. From that happy hour, 
being re-constituted with a love-nature and made love- 
beings, we become also happy or joyous beings. And 
this is so much the case, that happiness, as well as love 
flowing out of the depths of the soul, may be said to be 
a part of our nature. What can injure us? Conscience 
itself becomes the companion and playmate of love, and 
hides itself in its bosom. Shielded by innocence, we 
come to God without fear. The soul expands itself as 
confidingly and lovingly to God's presence and favor, as 
the flowers open to the sun. God, who before appeared 
to us in his frowns and as a consuming fire, now “‘lays 
his terrors by.” 


CHAPTER V. 


THE SOUL IN UNION RESTS FROM DISQUIETING FEARS. 


Fear, the source of agitation and sorrow. — The truly holy man deliv- 
ered from the fear of want, sickness, and persecution. — Reference 
to the writings of John Climachus. — All sinful fear of God taken 
away. 


Ir is proper to be said further, in connection with this 
subject, that the soul which is brought into entire har- 
mony with God, has rest from all disquieting fears. It 
is a declaration of the Scriptures, and is no less evident 
from one’s own consciousness, that ‘ fear hath torment.” 
2 John 4: 18. In all cases, fear diminishes happiness; 
and, when it is very great, it is almost inconsistent with 
any degree of happiness. It produces distrust; it causes 
agitation ; it sunders friendship; it alienates love. From 
the wretchedness connected with this state of mind, the 
holy man has true rest; and no other man has. 

'2. Among other things which tend to illustrate these 
general views, we proceed to remark, that the holy man 
is delivered from the fear of want. The unrighteous 
man fears that he will come to want, because he has no 
faith. On the contrary, where faith and love are perfect, 
bread will not fail. God will multiply the widow’s ves- 
sel of oil, or send his ravens, as he did to the famishing 
prophet, when his people who trust in him are hungry. 
‘‘T have been young,”’ says the Psalmist, “and now am 


394 — DIVINE UNION. 


old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his 
seed begging bread.” Ps. 37: 25. 

It is proper to add here, it is not the mere fact that 
God will provide for his people, which delivers from fear; 
but the belief, the full confidence, that he will do it. 
And this is not all. The people of God are willing to 
suffer want, are willing to be as the Saviour was, who 
had no place to lay his’ head, if God sees it best. In 
connection with such feelings, it is impossible for fear to 
exist. : 

_ 3. Again, the man who in the exercise of faith is fully 
united to God, is delivered from the fear of sickness and 
death. Undoubtedly, in themselves considered, sickness 
and death are aftlictions. 'The truly devoted and godly 
man understands this as well as others. But fully 
believing that all things work together for the good of 
those who love God, he is freed from anxiety. He wel- 
comes suffering, when God sends it, in whatever form it 
may come. ‘The physical suffering and weakness which 
attend upon sickness, become means of growth in grace; 
and, so far from being causes of complaint, are welcomed 
and rejoiced in as the forerunners of increased purity 
and happiness. And while many are constantly subject 
to bondage, through fear of death, the holy man looks 
upon it as the end of sorrow and the beginning of glory. 

A. The man, in whom the divine nature is reconsti- 
tuted, is freed from the fear of his fellow-man. It is one 
of the artifices of Satan to attack holy men through the 
aids of those who are unholy; by employing their lips 


| 


in the utterance of evil surmises and falsehoods, and _ 
sometimes by exciting them to more open attacks. The 
holy man leaves his cause with God. He would not — 
plead it himself if he could. He stands without fear, as _ 


Christ did before the bar of Pilate, in the sublimity of a 


THE SOUL’S REST IN UNION. 395 


triumphant silence. He rejoices in spirit, knowing that, 


at the appointed time, when faith and patience have had 
their perfect work, he shall hear the voice of his own 
great Defender. 

Nay more, armies of men, as well as individuals, have 
ceased to cause terror. Dungeons, which nations have 
erected, bring no alarm. He has no fear, because he 
finds the defence of the future in the history of the past. — 
The walls of cities have fallen before the voice of the 
Lord. Brazen gates have been sundered. Iron chains 


have been separated like flax at the touch of fire. What 


has been, will be. No power can hurt him, because 


infinite power is his protection. And even if there 1s no 


direct interposition, and evil men are allowed to triumph 
for a time, the sense of suffering is overwhelmed and lost 
in the joy that he is accounted worthy to suffer. 

5. And, what is greater than all, he has rest from the 
fear of the divine displeasure. John Climachus,* one 
of the devout and learned anchorites of Mount Sinai, in 
referring to the inward state of a holy man with whose 
history he had become acquainted, represents the divine 
grace to have been so marked and powerful in its opera- 
tions as to have taken away from him apparently even 
the fear of God. Although such expressions are liable 
to be misunderstood, it is beyond question that they are 
susceptible of a meaning which involves an important 
truth. It is a universal truth, applicable in all times and 
situations, and not a particular truth limited to specific 
cases, that “‘ perfect love casts out fear.” Love and fear, 
in their very nature, are antagonistical principles. Where 
love rules, fear is extinguished. 'The triumph of the one 


‘is necessarily the exclusion of the other. 


* Giuvres de S. Jean Climaque, Abbé du Mont Sinai, comprenant 
L’Echelle Sainte, &c. Degré, 29. 


396 DIVINE UNION. 


6. But, in laying down this universal principle, we 
must have a regard to the meaning of terms. The fear 
which is based upon the consciousness of guilt, is a dif- 


ferent thing from that fear which is synonymous with — 


reverence. It is certain, where love is perfected in the 


heart, that all fear which results from sin is extinguished. | 


In that sense of the term, or rather with that limitation 
of the use of the term, the holy man ceases to fear. God 
has no sooner merged the character of a judge in that of 
a friend, than the man of God delights to be with him, 
and to converse with him. It is no more his nature to 
flee from God under the influence of sinful fear, than it 
is the nature of an innocent child to flee from its mother. 
He rests, like calm and helpless infancy, on the arm that 
is wreathed with lightnings. The lightnings have no 
terror for innocence; but rather, divested of everything 
which can harm it, they shine like flowers, and play 
round it like sunbeams. But to those who are in a state 
of fear, originating in sin, they retain the terrors of their 


original nature, smiting with a power which rends the 


rocks in pieces, and burning with a consuming fire. 


RR a ea 


rend ¢ ek). ak © lata ., ee 


CHAPTER?’ VI. 


THE SOUL IN UNION RESTS FROM CONFLICTS WITH PROVIDENCE. 


The sinful man at war with Providence. — The holy man in harmony 
with Providence. — Of the extent of God’s providence. — It extends 
to natural things, to events, to feelings. — In all these things, and in 
others, the holy man is in harmony with Providence and at peace. 


Tue sinful man has no true peace, among other sources 
of disquiet, because his position is at variance with Prov- 
idence. One view to be taken of sin, is, that it is war. 
It is not only war against God’s character, but against 
his commands; not only war against his commands, but 
against his providential arrangements. God has one 
way and plan of arrangement; the sinful man, who is 
in a state of rebellion against God, has another plan. 
The centre of God’s arrangements is benevolence or the 
love of all; the centre of the sinful man’s arrangements 
is the inordinate love of himself. Radiating from 
such different centres, the plans which are formed con- 
tinually come in conflict. Under such circumstances it 
is impossible that the sinner should have rest. Finding 
himself face to face in opposition to what God has deter- 
mined, and thus in conflicting lines of movement, he is 
continually met and counteracted, continually smitten 
and driven back. His life is a warfare commenced and 
carried on under the most hopeless circumstances; a war- 
fare attended everywhere and unceasingly with discom- 
fiture and suffering. 

34 


398 DIVINE UNION. 


2. On the contrary, the man who is united with God 
in the possession of a common central feeling, is neces- 
sarily united with him in all the movements and arrange-_ 
ments which he makes. In other words, he rests from 
the perplexities and uncertainties of making his own 
choice, by accepting, under all circumstances, the choice 
which his heavenly Father has made for him. With the 
exception of sin, God’s choice never varies, and never 
can vary, from the facts and incidents of that state of 
things which now exists. And it is this choice, however 
painful it may be in some of its personal relations, which 
the godly man takes and sanctions as his own. So that 
his choice being ‘already made by the unvarying adop- 
tion of that which is from God, he may be said not to 
have any preference of his own, but to rest from his own 
choice, that he may repose in God’s choice. And God’s 
choice is only another name for his providence. ‘There 
is, therefore, no conflict; there never can be any. 

3. God’s providence extends both to things and events, 


Inanimate nature, even in the lowest forms, is under the — 


divine care. Nota rock is placed without a hand that 
placed it. Not a tree grows'without a divine vitality, 
which is the inspiration of its growth. Not a wave of 


the ocean rolls without the power of God’s presence to | 


propel it. The storms and the earthquakes are the 
Lord’s. ; 
God is thus the life of nature. And the man who is 


in harmony with God, has no controversy with him in > 


any of these things. On the contrary, he accepts all, is 
at peace with all. 
4. God is also the life of events, including in that 


term human actions. There is no good action which is — 


not from God. The wisdom of the Supreme mind is — 


the good man’s inspiration. And, on the other hand | 


THE SOUL’S REST IN UNION. 399 


there is no evil action which God does not notice, and 
over which he has not some degree of control. The 
essence of evil actions, it is well understood, is the evil 
Imotive from which they proceed,—a motive which is not 
and cannot be from God; but still, God will not allow 
the action, which proceeds from the motive, to take 
effect, except in the manner and the degree which 
pleases him. In other words, God has the prerogative, 
which can pertain only to an «finite being, of overruling 
evil, and of bringing good out of it. So that there is a 
providence of evil-as well as a providence of good. And 
hence, the ood man can be in peace even when the evil 
man triumphs, because he knows that the “ triumphing 
of the wicked is short.” 

5. Again, God’s providence is internal as well as ex- 
ternal. He is the inspirer of the feelings of the heart as 
well as the director and controller of outward events. 
Our thoughts and feelings are from God, so far as they 
are right thoughts and right feelings. Accordingly, the 
man who is fully united with God, rests from all anxiety 
in relation to the particular form or mode of his inward 
experience. Among the various thoughts and feelings 
which are right and good, he has no choice. For 
instance, he does not desire inward joys, nor great illumi- 
nations of mind, nor freedom and gifts of utterance; but 
desires and accepts only that degree of light and joy, 
whether more or less, which God sees fit to send. It is 
true we are directed to covet ‘“‘the best gifts,’?* but it is 
equally true that those gifts are the best which God 
selects and gives. In everything, in gifts and the exer- 
cise of gifts, for time and for eternity, the wise man 
chooses for himself what God chooses for him: which is 


* T:Cor. 12:2. 31, 


400 DIVINE UNION. 


the same as to say that he rests from choice, or that he 
is without choice. God’s providence is his guide. 

6. Rest, or pacification in God’s providences, implies , 
and secures the fact of rest or peace in other things, 
which have an indirect relation to his providences. For 
instance, he who is at peace with Providence, has rest 
from Pein and wandering imaginations. He is unlike 
other persons in this respect, who constantly recur in 
their imaginations to other scenes and other situations, 
and people them with a felicity which is the creation of 
their own minds. If his imagination ever goes beyond 
the sphere which Providence has assigned him, it does so 
under a divine guidance, and not at the instigation of 
unholy discontent. 

7. Again, he who is at peace with Providence expe- 
riences, as one of the incidental results of his position in 
this respect, a peace or rest from feelings of envy. 'The 
occasion of envy is the existence, or supposed existence, 
of superiority in others. It is impossible, therefore, for 
him to envy others, because, viewing all things as he 
does in the light of God, he does not and cannot believe 
that the situation of others is better than his own. 
Accordingly, he is at rest from the agitations of this 
baneful passion. 

8. He has rest also from easily offended and revenge- — 
ful feelings. If he has been injured by another, he | 
knows that his heavenly Father, without originating the | 
unholy impulse, has seen fit, for wise reasons, to direct | 
its application against himself. He receives the blow with — 
a quiet spirit, as one which is calculated to strengthen — 
his own piety, while he has pity for him who inflicts it. 
Considered in relation to himself, he accepts all, approves — 
all, rejoices in all. In the remarkable language of the | 
apostle Paul, which precisely describes his situation, he 


THE SOUL’S REST IN UNION. AOL 


suffers long and is kind; he envies not; is not easily 
provoked; thinketh no evil; rejoiceth not in iniquity, 
but rejoiceth in the truth; beareth all things, believeth 
all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.’ Ist 
Corinthians, ch. 13. 

o4* 


CHAPTER VII. 


THE SOUL IN UNION RESTS FROM THE ANXIETIES OF LABOR. 


Definition of the term labor. — As thus defined, there is no such thing 
as labor in heaven. — In the sense of the term, as explained, the truly 
holy man rests from labor. — Reasons of this view. — First, God 
works in him. — Second, his labor is inspired by love. — Third, he is 
sure of success. — Fourth, it is the natural tendency of holiness to 
diffuse itself. — Fifth, God rewards him by sharing his burden. — 
Remarks. 


THERE is another point of view, in which the subject 
may properly be presented to notice. In addition to the 
elements of rest already mentioned, the soul which is 
fully the Lord’s may be said also to rest from labor. 
This depends in part, however, upon the meaning which 
we attach to the term labor. As the term is commonly 
understood, it implies some degree, more or less accord- 
ing to the circumstances, of forethought and calculation, 
strivings of the will, and physical effort. But this is 
not all. It implies, also, not only effort, but pain. ‘There 
is something unpleasant in it. In this view of the im- 
port of the term, God does not labor; angels do not labor; 
nor do glorified saints. There is obviously no such 
thing as labor of this sort in heaven. There is life; there 
is activity; everything is done which ought to be done; 
but all labor which involves pain ceases. | 

2. And, to a considerable extent, these views are true. | 
of the holy man in the present life. He does not cease — 


THE SOUL’ S"REST IN UNTON. 403 


to be active, and to do what the providence of God calls 
him to do; on the contrary, codperating with God in the 
great work of redemption, he finds and knows no idle 
moments; but still, the work which he does, ceases so 
far to possess the ordinary attributes of labor, that he 
may be said, in a certain sense, to cease from labor. 

It will be kept in mind by the reader, that this is not 
said of the sinful man, nor of the partially sanctified 
man, but of the man whose soul, freed from the separa- 
tions of self, has passed into a state of entire union with 
God. Undoubtedly the rest, which is experienced even 
by such an one, is not so perfect, in consequence of the 
imperfections and hindrances of the body, as it will be 
hereafter; but still, itis so real and great, and besides, 
so naturally results from the principles involved in holy 
living, that it deserves to be noticed. 

3. One reason that the labor of the truly holy man 
ceases to be labor, in the ordinary sense of that term, is, 
that there is a divine power working in him. The Infi- 
nite Mind is necessarily the life of the created and finite 
mind, so long as sin does not separate them from each 
other. Man is the instrument, in which and through 
which God works. The Saviour himself said, “I can’ 
of myself do nothing.” The wonderful power which 
was manifested in him, in his incarnate state, had its 
source in his Father, from whom, in the exercise of faith, 
he continually drew divine strength.* The language of 
Paul and of other holy men, who derived their strength 
from God through Christ, is, ‘I can do all things through 
Christ which strengtheneth me.” Philipp. 4: 13. There 
is an inward conviction, a consciousness felt in the 
depths of the pious man’s spiritual nature, that virtue has 
a necessary alliance with power, and that the good man 


—* See Acts, Ch. 1: 3, and other passages of similar import. 


A404 DIVINE UNION. 


never can be deserted. God, who inspires this remark- 
able conviction, is pledged, both by nature and by prom- 
ise, to see it realized. And thus the man of God, who 
feels this increased strength, finds that easy which would 
otherwise be hard to him. 

4. Another reason why the labor of the holy man, 
whose soul is in union with God, ceases to be labor in 
the ordinary sense of that term, is, that his labor is in- 
spired by Jove. The labor of those who do everything 
from love, is a very different thing from the labor of 
those who act exclusively or chiefly from the impulse of 
conscience and the forced efforts of the will. The single 
circumstance of labor’s being originated with or without 
the inspiration of the heart, makes all possible difference. — 
The labor of the partially sanctified man, who stirs him- 
self to action by reasonings and reflections, and by the 
efforts of the will, is the recreation, the happiness of the 
holy man. The holy man works without knowing that 
he works; because love converts what would otherwise 
be work into the spontaneous activity of a pleased and 
joyous nature. In doing what he loves to do, he labors 
just as much as the birds do when they fly in the air 
and sing; and just as much as the angels do, whose 
nature it is to fulfil the commands of their heavenly 
Father. 

5. In saying, therefore, that the holy soul rests from 
labor, we do not mean that it rests from action; but 
that its action is so easy and natural, so harmonious at _ 
the same time with the desires of the soul and with the — 
arrangements of Providence, that it is exempt from the » 
attributes of pain and distastefulness which are com- 
monly associated with labor. Ae 

6. Another reason that the labor of the holy man_ 
ceases to be labor, is this; he knows that he will be 


§ 


an THE SOUL’S REST IN UNION. 405 


prospered in what he does; in other words, that his 
‘labor is not in vain in the Lord.” ‘There are many 
promises to this effect. But this is notall. He knows 
that, when God imposes on his people something to be 
done, it is not merely to secure a particular outward 
result, but also, and sometimes chiefly, for the purpose of 
training and disciplining the inward dispositions. And 
if he fails to do the particular thing which is required to 
be done, still, if the effort has resulted in the trial and 
strengthening of his faith and obedience, he has his 
reward. He is sure of success in one way or the other. 
This imparts a joyousness of spirit, which gives a new 
character to his toil. Labor, which is enlivened by the 
joy of anticipated fruition, is rendered by that circum- 
stance so delightful, that it virtually ceases to be labor. 
7. Again, true holiness acts and influences by its 
innate tendencies. It merely wants opportunities of ac- 
tion, and not’ appliances and instigations to action. It is 
not the language of Scripture, make thy light shine, but 
let thy light shine. In partially sanctified hearts, where 
the light is comparatively small, there is a disposition, 
which, however, in itself considered, is not to be blamed, 
to set the light off to the best advantage, to place it in 
favorable positions, to increase it by concentrating it in 
and reflecting it abroad on the multitude, througt the 
instrumentality of persons of ‘‘ good reputation.” ‘This 
is laudable under the circumstances. But if the light 
were full and bright at the centre, there would not be 
need of this additional labor at the circumference. And 
the reason of this remark is, that it is the nature of holi- 
ness to diffuse itself, if there are no obstacles in the way. 
It cannot conceal itself, if it would. The first thing 
is its existence; the next is, to /e¢ it shine;—not to 
hide it, but to let it de ; stationed as it is by the wisdom 


406: DIVINE UNION. 


of a heavenly position as well as bright by a heavenly 
radiance. 

"Phe light of Jesus Christ shone brightly long before 
he commenced his public apostolic life. It shone, be- 
cause brightness was in his nature; and, therefore, it 
was his nature to shine. When he was very young, it 
was said of him, by lips which repeated it to others, that 
there is a lad in the town of Nazareth, living in a poor 


and retired family, who has God with him. His candle — 


first diffused its light in a very small circle; but within 
the limits of that circle it shone freely and clearly in the 
rays of sincere and peaceable dispositions. He was not 


a holy man, but a holy boy; and, being such, he was 4 


known and felt to be such. As he grew older, working 
day by day at the trade of a carpenter, the same unob- 
trusive sincerity, the same forbearance and love, attended 
by perfect faith in his heavenly Father, attracted atten- 
tion in a sphere somewhat enlarged, and drew to him 


some loving hearts that were affected by the innate power 
of holiness. Thus, though he came, as it were, silently, . 


without effort and without observation, the light shone 
from him by its own nature; a light gentle but pure; 
penetrating quietly, but surely, in every direction; until 
it was whispered from the lips of the faithful, throughout 
Palestine, that a holy one had come. 'There was, indeed, 


a mystery resting upon him and his character, because 


he was a man unannounced, unknown; but still he was 


a real and divine presence, though indistinctly felt and 
appreciated, even before he appeared publicly and au- 
thoritatively as the messenger of God. His light shone 


of itself. 


8. Again, the labor of the holy man ceases to be labor, 7 


in the ordinary sense of that term, not only for the rea-_ 
sons which have been mentioned, but because his humble 


i \ ; 
THE SOUL’S REST IN UNION. 407 


trust in God actually supplies the place, in many cases, 
of positive effort. In other words, God does now reward 
him by actually sharing and lightening the burden which 
is upon him. God, whose happiness consists in the 
exercise of love, always delights to do the work of his 
people, when the circumstances are such as to allow him 
todo it. Man’s first work, and, as compared with others, 
almost his only work, is to return from his sins, and to— 
enter into union with his Maker. From that moment he 
not only may, but he ought to, give up all anxiety. God 
will never desert him. God will hold up and inspirit his 
weary arm. Even if the body labors, the anxieties of 
the spirit should cease. : 

See the father of a numerous family. Day after day 
he toils without ceasing. ‘Their food, their clothing, their 
morals, their education, their health, all successively 
secupy his thoughts, fill him with anxiety, and give him 
no rest. He is burdened and borne down to the dust, 
because he attempts to bear the burden alone. If he 
were a man of perfect faith, he would labor less; and at 
’ the same time with greatly improved results. His faith 
would honor God, and would secure the fulfilment of the 
promises. It would make God present, because it would 
necessarily secure the codperation of his loving nature. 
And this is not all. It would react upon his own char- 
acter ; giving clearness to truth, submission in sorrow, 
strength in temptation, patience under rebuke, and love 
at all times. So that, under the purifying power of a 
higher trust, an influence would emanate from his own 
character. His silence would speak. And the inaction 
of God, if we may so express it, (that is to say, the 
silent and quiet operation of God in the soul,’) would do 
more than the activity of the creature. 

9. Certainly, in view of such considerations as these, 


AOS. DIVINE UNION. 


we have great reason for saying, if we cannot safely say 
anything more, that the labor of the man of God is a 
very different thing from the labor of the man of the 
world. It is exempt, at least, from all anxiety. And 
hence that calmness, which is seated on his brow. No 
expression of impatience, no scowl of hatred, no frown 
of anger; but a constant cheerfulness, which shows that 
the principles of faith and love at the centre make all 
things easy. It is one of the signs, therefore, of the truly 
holy man, that he is happy in his work; so much so, that 


under the existing circumstances, he could not be equally 
happy without work. So that, virtually, his work is his | 


recreation; his labor is his play. 


. 
tid 
, 


eb 


ee 


| 
1 


CHAPTER VILLI, 


THE HOLY SOUL HAS PEACE, BECAUSE WHAT IT WANTS IN 
ITSELF IT FINDS IN GOD. 


The holy man is dead, but has life in God. — He ceases to act, but 
God acts in him. — He always suffers, but is always happy. — He 

is ignorant, but has divine wisdom.— He is poor, but has riches in 
God. —Is weak, but has strength in God. — Experience of Paul. 


As the Christian is one who has passed from a state 
of nature to a state of grace, there are expressions appli- 
cable to him which are directly opposite to each other 
in their import. Such expressions, used antithetically, 
are frequently employed in the Scriptures. ‘To some of 
these expressions, which will apply appropriately only 
to the eminently devoted Christian, we propose to give a 
little attention; and, in doing this, we shall obtain 
another view of the subject under consideration, and see 
other sources or elements of that divine Pears which 
_characterizes the holy soul. 

2. It is said, for instance, that the Christian who has 
experienced in himself the highest results of religion, zs 
dead, and is alive again. 'That is to say, he is dead to 
private aims and private interests; dead to selfish pas- 
sions, prejudices and pleasures; dead to worldly reputa- 
tion and honor. But, being dead to himself and what- 
ever concerns himself, he is alive to God; alive to the 
aims and interests for which Christ came down from 

35 


410 DIVINE UNION. 


heaven, alive to the honor which comes from God, and 
from God only. 

3. Again, it is sometimes said by experimental writers, 
in relation to such a Christian, that he is without action, 
and yet always acting. ‘That is to say, he has no action 
which comes from himself, —no action originated on 
worldly principles, none which he can call his own,— but. 
he is always acting in harmony with Providence; moving 
as he is moved upon; instructed and actuated by the 
outward occasions as they are laid hold of and inter- 
preted by the inward principle; retreating, going forward, 
or standing still, just as the voice of God in the soul 
directs: so that it is not more true that he never acts 
than it is that he always acts. Action is as essential 
to him as life; but still it is action iz God and for 
God. 


4, Again, it may properly be said of the man who is 


truly regenerated, and is fashioned anew into the image 


of Christ, that he is always suffering, and yet always 
happy. "The natural and necessary opposition between | 
the state of his own soul and the condition of things | 


around him causes affliction. The inhabitant of a 


dying body, and surrounded by a sinning world, pierced | 
by the thorns of the flesh and by the arrows of Satan, — 
the law of his outward position and the still lingering — 
trials of his fallen nature necessarily constitute him, till — 
his last footstep on this stricken and bleeding earth, “a _ 
man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.” But if, 
in some departments of his mental being, he is always * 
suffering, in others he is always happy. And he is so, | 
because, being born of God and made a partaker of the 
divine nature, he cannot be otherwise. In the inmost» 
recesses of the soul, in that part which is central and- 
controlling to all the rest, faith stands unshaken ; faith 


THE SOUL’S REST IN UNION. All 


which gives sight to the blind and strength to the weak; 
faith which proclaims sunshine after the storm, victory 
after the contest, a present God and everlasting rest. 

5. He is ignorant, and feels himself to be so, and yet 
as full of divine wisdom. He is ignorant, comparatively 


_ speaking, because there are many things, the knowledge 


of which is not profitable, and which, therefore, he does 
not seek. He cannot seek knowledge in his own will 
any more than he can seek anything else. He can say 
with the utmost sincerity, “I know nothing ;”” because 
all human knowledge, as compared with divine, is, and 
must be, utter ignorance. And yet, being a “son of 
God,” and being “‘led by the Holy Spirit,” he feels that 
he may and will possess all that knowledge which will 


be necessary for him. If he knows but little, he knows 


enough ; and if he has no knowledge from himself, he 
still has God for a teacher. 

6. Of the truly holy man it can be said, also, he is 
poor, and yet he has all riches ; he is poor, because he 
sits loosely to the world, because he cannot set his affec- 
tions upon it, and because he has nothmg which he can 
eall hisown. That, which the world calls his, he calls — 
God's. He has nothing but what God gives him, and 
if, in the arrangements of divine providence, God does 
not see fit to give him anything, he is still rich in the 
possession of Him, who makes him poor. He may be 
said to be desolate ; but he can never be deserted. He is 
a poor son; but he has a rich Father; so that, although 
he has nothing in possession, he can never come to 
want. God is his banker, who both keeps the funds, 
and tells him when and how to draw for them; so that 
he is free from care as the birds of heaven and the lilie 
of the field. 
7. He is weak, and yet he has all power. He has 


412 DIVINE UNION. 


renounced his own strength, as well as his own wisdom. 


But having no power in himself, he may be said to have : 


all power in God. Hecan almost say with the Saviour, 
‘‘Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, 
and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions 
of angels?””? And He, who gives him strength, gives 
him also honor; so that he, who is despised among men, 
has all honor with God. His name is cast out as evil 
among men; but it is written and registered in bright 
letters on the heart of the Infinite. 

§. It is in such views that we find an explanation of 
the contrasted but triumphant expressions of the Apostle 
Paul, in his second Epistle to the Corinthians: ‘‘ We are 
troubled on every side, yet not distressed ; we are per- 
plexed, but not in despair ; persecuted, but not forsaken; 
cast down, but not destroyed.” 


‘¢Foy which cause,” he adds, “‘we faint not; but, 


though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is 


renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is 


but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceed- 
ing and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at 
the things which are seen, but at the things which are 
unseen; for the things which are seen are temporal, 
but the things which are unseen are eternal.” 


CHAPTER IX. 


THE HOLY SOUL HAS PEACE, BECAUSE ITS ACTION IS NATURAL 
AND WITHOUT EFFORT. 


Natural action necessarily easy and quiet action. — Illustrations of the 
subject. — The natural life of the sinful man. — The natural life of 
the holy mam. — Of the operations of a holy life when it has become 
anew nature.— Of the rest or peace which is connected with the 
state of mind. — Reference to Madame Guyon. — Remarks. 


We proceed further to say, in the consideration of the 
elements of true spiritual peace, that the degree of peace 
will correspond to the advancement of the soul in holi- 
ness. And one reason of this, among others, is, that the 
hew principle of holiness, when it has become fully 
engrafted and established in the soul, has all the attri- 
butes of a new nature. It certainly is not contrary either 
to the facts or the reason of the case, to speak of the 
ruling principle, in a soul which is fully united with 
God, as operating naturally. And natural action, — 
that is to say, action flowing from nature, in distinction 
from that which originates from forced efforts of the will 
made against nature, — is, of course, easy, quiet, peace- 
ful action. But it is necessary to give some explana- 
tions of this view. ight 

2. ‘That which acts naturally has a natural life. A 
natural life is that life which develops itself in accord- 
ance with the principles of its own nature, and which, 
in doing so, is true and harmonious to itself. The sin 

3o* 


A414 DIVINE UNION. 


ner, in his unregenerated state, lives and acts naturally 
in sinning; because that which he does is not only his 
own doing, but is done voluntarily and easily, and har- 
monizes with its own central principle of movement. 
The central principle in fallen man is self. ‘The great 
law of selfishness, which requires him to place himself 
first, and God and humanity under him, regulates all 
his actions. From this principle, which operates as ar 
internal and life-giving force, his actions flow out as 
constantly and as naturally as trees grow ina soil which 


is appropriate to them, and as waters How from moun- 


tains to the ocean. 

3. A holy life, also, when it is once fully and perma- 
nently established, is as natural to those who are holy, as 
a sinful life is to those who are sinful. In the mized, or 
partly sanctified life, which is intermediate between the 
sinful and the holy, there is a conflict of natures; and 
we cannot well say, for any length of time, what the 
true or real nature of the man is. But when a person 
has obtained inward victory, when selfishness has 
ceased to exist, and when also he is freed from the lin- 
gering and perplexing influences of former evil habits, 
he is then the subject of a truly natural life. Just the 
opposite of the unregenerated man,—with a life as true 
and. just as that of the other is untrue and unjust,—he does 
right, not by an effort which has the appearance, as well 
as the reality, of going against nature, but because, with 
his present disposition, he cannot do otherwise. He not 
only loves God, but he does it without reflecting on his 
love, without any effort, which would imply a conflict 
with some inward, opposing principle. He does it 
freely, easily, and perfectly; which would not be the 
ease if he did it with conscious effort, or if his mind were 


oS 


THE SOUL’S REST IN UNION. A15 


diverted from the object of his love to reflections on the 
love itself. Holiness has become a nature. 

4. It is one of the characteristics of a holy life, when it 
is not merely incipient but has become a nature, that, — 
with the single exception of that, which, in being sin, is 
the opposite of itself, it easily harmonizes and sympa- 
thizes with what now is. In other words, while the- 
inward fountain of holy love at the heart is always the 
same, and always full, the streams which flow from it, 
repelled by opposition, or attracted by sympathy, take 
their course variously, in the diversified channels of 
Providence. a 

Accordingly, harmonizing with the present objects of 
his thoughts and affections, the holy man is one in 
nature, but diversified in manifestation. He ‘ weeps 
with those who weep, and rejoices with those who 
rejoice.” Under the unerring impulses of the life which 
is from God, he becomes “all things to all men,” but 
without losing the identity of his character as one united 
with God, and as being the “temple of the Holy Ghost.” 
Instructed by the teachings of love, which is the best of 
all teachers, he is a man of smiles or of tears, of action 
or of rest. He rests when it is the time to rest, because 
rest in its time is better than toil out of time; but he 
labors when Providence calls him to labor, and love 
makes his labor sweet. He has a heart for humanity, 
and a heart for nature. More than a mere amateur of 
the outward world, he loves the rocks and the mountains 
for their own beauty and sublimity, and for the God that 
dwells in them. His heart warms and melts in the 
summer sunshine; but the thunder is his also, and the 
lightning. Nothing is out of place, because place is gub- 
ordinated to the eternity and ubiquity of the life within 
He is a citizen of his country, and serves her well, with- 


416 DIVINE UNION. 


out losing the evidence of his citizenship in heaven; a 
subject of the powers that are ordained of God, without 
ceasing to be the subject of Him who has ordained them. 
He sings praises with the devoted Christian, and his 
heart yearns and melts over the impenitent sinner. In 
his simplicity, he is the companion of children; and in 
his wisdom, the counsellor of age. He can sit at meat 
with the “publican and sinner,” or receive the hospi- 
tality of the unhumbled Pharisee; and, in both cases, he 
unites the proprieties of love with the faithfulness of 
duty. 

And all this, which seems to imply contradiction, and 
to require effort, is what it is, in all its ease and all its 
promptness, because it is not the result of worldly cal- 
culation, but the infallible working of a divine nature. 

5. It is important to understand the view which has 
now been presented. ‘The want of a full understanding 
of it has sometimes perplexed those persons who have 
been led by the Holy Ghost into the higher stages of 
experience. ‘They doubt their love, because they find it 
so easy and natural to love. The suggestion arises in 
their minds, because the perception of their own work- 
ing is lost in the fact of God’s working, that perhaps 
nothing is done at all. Certain it is that their present 
state is very different from their former state, when they 
were but beginners in the religious life. 

Formerly, their life was a divided one. ‘The inward 
struggle was almost incessant. Comparatively speak- 
ing, there was no rest, no peace. But now, the unity 
of their affections in God has put an end to all interior 
trouble, except so far as the soul is tried by temptations 
originating from without. Formerly, they found the 
service of God, both in its inward and outward forms, 
dbstructed and hard, requiring the greatest effort. But 


Ss 
A ne 


ee 


THE SOUL’S REST IN UNION. AIT 


now they rejoice in God always, as if they had no other 
business, and no other desire. Formerly, they could 
hardly eat, or speak, or move, without great anxiety, in 
consequence of finding sin intermingled with everything. 
But now they find the grace of God sufficient for the 
regulation of the appetites and the social principles; and 
those things which were once occasions of temptation 
and sorrow, are now occasions of gratitude. Formerly, 
they conformed their actions to God, who was a God 
afar off; and this was troublesome, because the agency 
was in a great degree in themselves. But now God, 
who dwells within, conforms the soul to the action; and 
thus they are not conscious either of effort or trouble. 
In a word, “their yoke is easy, and their burden is 
light.” 

6. These remarks call to mind something which we 
have noticed in the writings of Madame Guyon. All 
nature conveyed to her a lesson of religion ;—the woods, 
the waters, the flowers, every living and moving thing. 
Hence her beautiful lines to the swallow : -- 


‘* T am fond of the swallow ; —I learn from her flight, 
Had I skill to improve it, a lesson of love. 
How seldom on earth do we see her alight! 
She dwells in the skies, she is ever above.”’ 


She saw a great deal of God in the birds, and in the 
sheep, and in the oxen, and in all the various lower 
animals that live and move around us. And she repeat- 
edly says of herself, that she seemed to be like them ; — 
meaning that there was something, in the operations of 
her own inward life, which led her to sympathize with 
them. The explanation of what she says is this: — 
The life of the lower animals is not a device, a calcula- 
tion, but a nature. 'They move, as they are moved by 


A418 DIVINE UNION. 


that instinctive power within them, which obviously has 
its origin in something out of themselves. The life of 
animals, although it is not elevated to the rank of moral 
life, is yet a life from God. And it was her clear per- 
ception of this, which led her to study their habits, and 
to sympathize with them so much. She saw in them 
God’s life existing as a nature. The life of God in her 
own soul, though greatly superior in kind, was like that 
of animals, in one respect, —it had become a nature to 
her. And it seemed to her to operate much in the same 
way and with the same certainty that the instincts operate 
in the lower animals. It was not more natural and easy 
for the swallow to lift its wing, and to ascend in a clear 
summer sky, than for her own soul to ascend and unite 
itself with God. 

7. And how wonderful her inward peace was, all 
know who are acquainted with her history. She gives 
us expressly to understand that she did not undertake 
to regulate herself by the common human methods; 
conscious as she was that God, by a new law of life, 
had become her inward regulator. And she was thus 
freed from a thousand anxieties and dangers. 

And it is obvious how greatly this state of things 
must contribute to the true peace and rest of the soul in 
all cases. Happy, thrice happy, is such a man! His 
countenance is cheerful, because he has joy in his heart. 
If he seems to do nothing, it is because God works in 
him. If his burden is light, it is because God bears it. 
Satan, envious of their happiness, sometimes says to 
such, “Ye are deceived. Why do ye not fast, as did 
John’s disciples?’ But Jesus replies now, as he replied 
in former times: — ‘‘Can the children of the bridecham- 
ber fast, while the bridegroom is with them 2” 


CHAPTER X. 


THE SOUL IN UNION WITH GOD HAS REST, BECAUSE IT HAS 
PASSED FROM THE MEDITATIVE TO THE CONTEMPLATIVE 
STATE. 


The contemplative state naturally preceded by the meditative. — Some 
account of the meditative state. — This state implies effort, and some 
degree of pain.— Nature of the contemplative state. — Particulars 
in which it differs from the meditative state.—JIn all cases it is 
natural and easy. — Of the fixedness or permanency of the contem- 
plative state. — The beauty and wonderful effects of this state. 


One of the characteristics of a soul which is brought 
into union with God, is that it is contemplative. This 
is so much the case, that it seems to be proper here to 
give some explanations of a state which is eminently 
delightful and profitable; and especially because it is 
in this state of mind that we find one of the elements 
and sources of that divine peace which we have been 
endeavoring to explain. 

2. We shall the better Eee the contemplative 
state, if we keep in mind that it is naturally preceded 
by the meditate state. Every religious man knows 
What it is to direct his thoughts to God; in other 
words, to meditate upon him and upon those objects 
which are closely connected with him. In the medita- 
tive state, the religious man not only holds God in view 
by means of the meditative act, namely, by acts of per- 
ception and reflection upon the divine character; but he 


420 DIVINE UNION, { 

always does it with more or less of mental effort ;— that 
is to say, by a definite and formal act of the will. So 
that the meditative state, though necessary and import- 
ant in its place, is in some degree painful. And hence 
it is, that meditation, in order to render the mental 
operation more easy and effective, is generally under- 
stood to imply ana to require a particular time to be set 
apart, and also a particular place remote from interrup- 
tion. Meditation, therefore, though very necessary, is 
not in all respects a natural state; and, consequently, 
implying as it does a degree of effort and of resistance 
against other tendencies, does not appear to be entirely 
consistent with the highest rest and peace of the soul. 

3. But it is not so with the contemplative state. 
Contemplation, in the religious sense of the term, is 
meditation perfected. Considered as a religious state, 
contemplation, without formally aiming at the discovery 
of new truths in relation to God, is a calm dwelling 
upon him in thought, as he is already known to the 
mind, attended with faith, with such new views also as 
are naturally and easily presented, and with affectionate 
exercises of the heart. And, accordingly, it differs from 
the meditative state in a number of respects; some of 
which we shall now proceed to mention. 

A. Contemplation, like the meditative state, has an 
object towards which it is especially directed, and that 
object is God. But the remark to be made here is this. 
While it is like the meditative state in the sameness of 
its object, it is unlike it in another particular; namely, it 
is not propelled towards its object, if we may so speak, 
by a forced effort of the will; but is rather gently and 
sweetly attracted towards it by the perception of its 
innate loveliness. ‘The contemplative man, therefore, 
in consequence of being in perfect union with God, 


* 


THE SOUL’S REST IN UNION. 421 


dwells upon him, in hig acts of contemplation, with a 
Sweet quietude or rest of spirit, of which the merely 
meditative man is, in a greater or less degree, destitute. 

5. Another point of difference is this. The meditative 
man dwells upon God as a God limited or particular ; - 
— that is to say, as circumscribed by the limitations 
of form and locality. The contemplative man, on the 
contrary, dwells upon him as a God universal. But 
this remark requires some explanation. 

The common idea of God not only ascribes to him the 
attribute of personality, — an attribute which is essentia] 
to all correct views of him under all circumstances, — 
but also assigns to him a form, and places him as 
having form in some definite and distant locality ; — 
as dwelling, for instance, within the walls of the New 
Jerusalem, as shut up within golden gates, or as seated 
on a lofty white throne of celestial beauty. This con- 
ception of the Divinity, which appears to be the — 
common one at first, is probably well suited to the 
earlier stages of religious experience, when the mind is 
just beginning to recover itself from the weakness and 
blindness of sin. And we may say, further, there is 
great truth in it as far as it goes, —but it is not the whole . 
truth. It is true, that God occupies place; and that 
place may be here, or there, or anywhere; but it is 
equally true, that he is not limited to place. It is true 
that God may assume form; and that, on special occa- 
sions and for special reasons, he has assumed it » buts 
is equally true, that form is not essential to him. So 
that, when our conception, relieved from the embarrass- 
ments of sin, expands, so as to correspond, in some 
degree, to the magnitude of the object, we find him not 
under one form only, but under all forms; not in one 
place merely, but in all places. Everywhere the Divin- 

36 


’ 


422 DIVINE UNION. 


ity which was before veiled by unbelief, emerges into 
light. But he is still a personal God, though infinite 
in the varieties of form, infinite in the multiplications 
of place; though seen and recognized by faith in every 
tree, and plant, and rock, and flower; in every star, in 
the wandering moon, in the bright sun, in the floating 
cloud, in the wide and deep sea, in insects and birds, 
and the wild beasts of the mountains, in men, in angels, 
in all things, beings and places. It is God thus revealed 
in his universality that we call God wniversal, in dis- 
tinction from God local. 

6. The meditative man attaches himself to the God 
local; the contemplative man attaches himself to the 
God universal. But to do the first, namely, to seek 
God in a particular place, to the exclusion of other 
places, requires effort, and is in some degree painful; 
because we must seek him ‘‘as a God afar off.’ ‘The 
latter, namely, to commune with him in all places and 
in all objects, — supposing ourselves to have arrived at 
the appropriate state, and the adequate power to be 
given us, —is natural and easy; because, finding God 
even without seeking him at all, we contemplate him as 
a God present. Being in the midst of places and objects, 
none of which are, or can be, separate from a divine 
presence, all the soul has to do is to look and love. 
Calmly and sweetly it casts its eye upon every object 
which is presented to its notice, and it finds itself dwell- 
ing upon God in all. 

7. The contemplative state, like that of meditation, 
is, for the time being, a ficed state. ‘That is to say, the 
mind unites itself firmly and fixedly with its appro- 
priate object for a length of time. In the highest 
degrees of sanctification, it becomes almost a permanent 
state. It may be broken temporarily by the pressure 


THE SOUL’S REST IN UNION. 423 


of care and worldly business. But it is the natural ten- 
dency of the truly holy mind, when left to itself, to fall 
into this state. "That is to say, in every object the con- 
templative man, who cannot be truly contemplative 
without being truly holy, catches a new glimpse of the 
Divinity; and has no heart to leave it, until the vicissi- 
tudes of Providence call him to other objects where he 
has new revelations of the divine nature, and new exer- 
cises and intimacies of love. 

8. ‘To him who has this deeper insight and_ this 
higher unity, God breathes in the vernal zephyr, and 
shines brightly in the summer’s sun; he sees him 
moulding and painting the fruits of autumn, and send- 
ing the hoar-frosts and piling up the snows of winter; 
all inanimate nature is full of him. He sees God, also, 
in what is ordinarily called the work of men’s hands. 
It is God that spreads his pillow ;—it is God that builds 
his house;—it is God that ploughs his fields; —it is 
God that sells for him and buys for him; — God gives 
him pain, and sends him joy, — smites pil when he 1s 
sick, and heals him when he gets well. 

And what God does for himself, he does also for others, 
and for communities. He sees God in all the changes 
which take place around him. It is God that builds up 
and puts down, —that makes kings and makes sub- 
jects, — that builds up one nation and destroys another, 


—that binds the chains of the captive and gives liberty 


to the free, —that makes war and makes peace. All 
men, and princes, and nations, are in his hands like 
clay in the hands of the potter. His eternal will, 
which, in being established on the basis of eternal wis- 
dom and justice, never has changed and never can 
change, dashes them to pieces, or fashions them to ever- 


A424 DIVINE UNION. 


lasting life. All things are his, siz only excepted, and 
sin is sin, because it is not of God. 

9. What blessed results would follow, if all men, 
arrived at the state of holy contemplation, had that faith 
which deprives God of form, and displaces him from a 
particular locality, in order that, being without form, he 
may attach himself to all forms, and that, being without 
place, he may be found present in all places. Sucha 
faith, if it would not at once carry us up to the New 
Jerusalem, would do that which amounts to much the 
same thing, —it would bring the New Jerusalem down 
to earth, and would expand its golden walls and gates 
to the limits of the world and of the universe. ‘ And I, 
John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down 
from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned 
for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of 
heaven, saying, Behold, he tabernacle of God is with 
men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his 
people, and God himself shall be with them, and be 
their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from 
their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither 
Sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more 
pain; for the former things are passed away.” 


CHAPTER XI. 


OF THE SPIRIT AND PRACTICAL COURSE OF THE MAN WHO IS 
AT REST IN GOD. 


The man of inward peace is previously the subject of the same inward 
contest as others. — Some particulars in which he is now at rest. — 
Effect on his outward appearance.— Such men, more than others, 
bear the true image of God: — Expansion of their feelings. — Prac- 
tical remarks. 


Tue religiously quiet man, like other men less ad- 
vanced in grace, has experienced the sharpness of the 
inward contest; but God has helped him. Having 
striven with his corrupt nature, having passed through, 
as it were, the storms of regeneration, he has at last 
entered into the haven of inward rest. 

Inwardly instructed in the limitations of the human 
understanding, he rests from reasonings in all cases 
where reasoning owes homage to faith. God is his rea- 
son. ‘Taught by the great Teacher of the soul, that the 
true end of desires, is to be found in the wisdom of the 
Infinite, he quietly ceases from all those desires which 
have their origin in a corrupted nature, and finds all his’ 
aims and purposes harmonized and fulfilled in the fulfil- 
ment of God’s purposes. God is his desire. While he 
condemns sin, he is not impatient with it; but bears with 
it in the same spirit of calmness that God does; never 
doubting that, in the great issue of things which is rap- 
idly approaching, the unity and love of God will over-. 

- 36% 


426. DIVINE UNION. 


come the divisions and hatreds of Satan. Devoted to the 
will of God to the extent of his power, and resting firmly 
upon the promises in unshaken faith, he is exempt alike 
from the reproofs of conscience and the agitations of 
fear. 

2. A divine peace, of which God alone could be the 
author, is written upon his heart, his countenance, his 
actions, his whole life. The outward man is the calm 
mirror of the man within. He sees the commotions of 
the world; he beholds the surges and hears the noise of 
its contentions; but it does not move him from his posi- 
tion; it does not alter the fixedness of his purpose; it 
does not disturb the peace of his spirit. His counte- 
nance, written over with signatures which have their 
source in the centre of his spirit, shows neither the scowl 
of anger, nor the distortions of fear. Not that he is in- 
different to the strife; but he believes and knows that the 
God in whom he trusts has power to control it. He sees 
the calm beyond. | 

3. Such men, more than any others, bear the image 
of God; whose mighty power is established and operates 
in peace and in silence. A perfect being is, by the very 
fact of his perfection, unalterably tranquil. Jesus Christ, 
who was God revealed in humanity, and who, there- 
fore, was the model of the perfect man, was a quiet man; 
he did not attract the world’s notice by his noise. On 
the contrary, the world, disappointed that he came with- 
out observation, was attracted to him, contrary to what 
is usual with it, by the calm but mighty influence of his 
purity and gentleness. Meek, quiet, loving, doing what 
the divine order of things called him to do, he gave no 
occasion for reconsiderations and repentance, but left the 
evidence of his divinity in the perfection of everything 


he said and did. And in all cases will it be found, in 


THE SOUL’S REST IN UNION. 427 


the history of all good men of all ages, that the harmony 
of thought with truth, of feeling with thought, and of 
conscience with feeling; in other words, the perfect ad- 
justment of character, will find its result and its testimony 
in inward and outward peace. 

4. Happy, then, is the man, of whom it can be said, 
in the scriptural sense of the terms, he is quiet in spirit ;— 
a state of mind which can exhibit itself in the most try- 
ing situations, and with more effect and beauty perhaps 
than on other occasions. Smite the quietist on one 
cheek, and he turns the other. Drive him from his 
home, and the smile of his cheerful heart lights the walls 
of a cavern or a dungeon. He returns love for hatred, 
blessing for cursing. When dying by the hand of his 
enemies, his language is, “ Father, forgive them, for they 
know not what they do.” 

5. “In quietness,” says Isaiah, “shall be strength.” 
The quiet man is necessarily victor, — conquering by the 
force of sentiments which are eternal, and not by the 
incidents of situation which are perpetually changing. 
It is not the body which constitutes the man, but the 
divine principle at the centre. A man is, according to 
his faith. And the man, who treads the dungeon or the 
scaffold, with the acquiescent belief that it is the allot- 
ment of Providence, is no prisoner, because he has all 
the freedom which he asks, and can lose nothing by the 
death which he himself cheerfully welcomes. He con- 
quers by that power to suffer which is given him through 
faith. And the power, which renders him victorious, 
gives him divine peace and happiness. _ 

6. It remains only to be added, that the man who 
rests in God, by having the principles of his nature 
brought into harmony with the divine nature, cannot be 
restricted by the limitations of name or country; but has 


428 DIVINE UNION. 


a spirit which belongs to the world. It is true his specu- 
lative beliefs may harmonize in certain directions more. 
than in others; but, bearing Christ’s image at the centre, 
he belongs to Christ rather than a party, and all man- 
kind are his brethren. The turbulence of nature has 
given place to the pacifications of grace, in order that he 
may extend the right hand of fellowship to those of 
every name and every clime. 

” In this connection, although it might have been 
equally appropriate in some other place, we wish to 
make a remark of some practical importance. It is this. 
Quietness of spirit, originating in the operations of divine 
grace, is the sign of truth or rectitude of spirit, and also 
of aright course of action. And, on the other hand, a 
spirit disturbed, a spirit in a state of agitation, is the sign 
of a wrong done, or of a wrong proposed to be done. 
Accordingly, in any proposed course of action, if it can- 
not be entered upon with entire quietness of spirit, with 
a soul so entirely calm, that, in its measure, it may be 
said to reflect unbrokenly the image of ‘God, then the 
probability is that the course proposed to be taken is 
wrong, or, at least, of a doubtful character ; and our true 
and safe course is to delay, until we can obtain further 
light in regard to it. 

This view is founded upon the relation existing be- 
tween quietness of spirit and faith. And it seems to us 
to harmonize with the remark of the apostle, that ‘‘what- 
soever is not of faith is sin.’ Rom. 14: 23. 


THE SOUL’S REST IN UNION. 429 


WHEN FROM THE HEART ITS ILLS ARE DRIVEN. 


When from the heart its ills are driven, 
And God, restored, resumes control, 
The outward life becomes a heaven, 
As bright as that within the soul. 


Where once was pride and stern disdain, 
And acts expressing fierce desire, 

The eye, that closest looks, in vain 
Shall seek the trace of nature’s fire. 


No flame of earth, no passion now, 
Has left its scorching mark behind; 

But lip, and cheek, and radiant brow, 
Reflect the brightness of the mind. 


For where should be the signs of sin, 
When sin itself has left the breast; 
When God alone is Lord within, 
And perfect faith gives perfect rest ? 


CHAPTER XIt. 


THE SOUL IN PEACE .IS THE TRUE KINGDOM OF GOD. 


Importance of the subject. — Explanations of the term kingdom. — Its 
universality. — Applied especially to the human soul. — Three char- 
acteristics of the kingdom of God in the soul, namely, it recognizes 
but one authority ; God rules in it and over it; it constantly renders 
him the highest homage. — When the kingdom of God is set up in 
the human heart, it is set up everywhere. — Of the connections ex- 
isting in the material and mental world. — The material and animal 
creation restored at the same time with man. 


In bringing this interesting and important subject to a 
conclusion, we have only one thing more to add, namely, 
that the soul in peace is the true kingdom of God. Such 
it is virtually asserted to be in the Scriptures; and such 
it is in fact. And, if this be the case, it is important, to 
understand and appreciate an idea, which is interesting 
in itself, and is susceptible of applications which are not 
less so. 

In saying that the soul is God’s kingdom, it should be 
kept in mind that the term xiNepom is relative in its 
meaning. It implies the idea of a governor, as well as 
of that which is governed. Accordingly, it is not only 
the place where the king dwells, but the place of the 
king’s authority. It is not only the king’s home, which 
is the original meaning of the term, but the place which 
the king rules over. 3 

2. In acertain sense God rules everywhere. ‘There 


THE SOUL’S REST IN UNION. 431 


is no place where he does not dwell. Nor is there any 
place which excludes his authority. He rules in hell as 
well as in heaven. He rules also over all earthly things; 
over things material as well as immaterial. He rules 
over all moral beings. He rules over men. 

3. Undoubtedly there is an universal kingdom; —a 
kingdom including all things. But, ordinarily, when we 
speak of God’s kingdom on earth, we mean his spiritual 
kingdom, — the kingdom of mind, and not of matter; the 
kingdom of hearts, and not of outward forms and locali- 
ties. ‘Ihe divine throne, erected everywhere, is espec- 
ially and emphatically erected in man’s spirit. The soul 
of man, a fit subject for the divine administration, always 
is, when renovated, and always ought to be, God's king- 
dom. Hence the remarkable expression of the Saviour: 
‘“'T'sE Kinepom or Gop Is wiTHIN you.” 

4, But in speaking of the human soul as a fit subject 
for the divine administration, and in saying that it oughe 
to be God’s kingdom, we imply, that, under certain cir- 
cumstances, by doing or being what it ought not to do or 
ought not to be, it is not God’s kingdom. And thus we 
come to our proposition. It is the soul in PEacs, (that 
peace which the Saviour speaks of when he says, ‘‘ Peace 
I leave with you, my peace I give unto you,”) the soul 
im peace, and not under any other circumstances, which 
constitutes, in the truest and highest sense, the kingdom 
of God. ‘For thus saith the Lord God, the Ho’y One of 
Israel, In returning and rest shall ye be saved. In quiet- 
ness and confidence, [that is to say, in the quietness and 
peace of faith,] shall be your strength.” Isa. 30: 15. 

5. A-soul in peace is the true kingdom of God, among 
other things, because it recognizes but one authority. Its 
eye is “single;” looking in one direction, and having 
knowledge of but one master. It feels the deep import 


432 DIVINE UNION. 


of. the Saviour’s words, ‘‘ Ye cannot serve God and 
Mammon.” And while it recognizes but one authority, 
in distinction from a two-fold or divided authority over 
it, it cheerfully submits to that authority and harmonizes 
with it. It thinks what God thinks, desires what God 
desires, wills what God wills. 

On the other hand, a soul not at peace is one which 
is rebellious against its rightful master, or which 
wickedly proposes to serve two rival masters at the same 
time. 

6. Again, a soul in peace is the kingdom of God, 
because God rules in it and over i. It is true, his 
government is sustained, not so much by positive and 
outward enactments, as by the perfect adjustment of 
affectional and moral relations. But still it is a true 
government, although carried on less by force than by 
the truth mutually communicated and received, and by 
love harmonizing with love. In the truly peaceful soul, 
the life of God, including that which is perceptive as 
well as that which is affectional, seems to be reflected in 
the life of the creature. God is not more a living speaker 
to the soul than. the soul, in a state of peace, is a living 
auditor. Moment by moment he communicates his will 
inwardly by a spiritual operation; and the intimations 
of his will are obeyed, by the soul which receives them, 
in the very moment of their communication. And this 
‘divine obedience is.the obedience of harmony rather than 
of compulsion; the obedience of a subordinate nature 
yielding to and mingling with a higher and originative 
nature, through the influence of that beautiful attraction. 
which always exists between kindred natures; but it is 
still that true and perfect obedience which God approves. 

7. In the third place, the soul in the state of true 
peace or rest, is the kingdom of God, because it con- 


THE SOUL’S REST IN UNION. A323. 


stantly renders him the highest homage. And it does SO, 
because its state of peace or rest is the result, and may 
be said to be the completion, of every other state. It is 
notmecessary for a soul, in such a state, to make costly 
Sacrifices, to go to distant places, or to bow in temples, — 
as if the true homage of the heart could be rendered only 
or chiefly by outward acts. Wherever it is, provided it 
is where ,God in his providence requires it to be, it is 
itself the highest worship and homage of God. The 
Infinite Mind delights in it, as a soul continually offering 
to himself the highest reverence and praise. The state 
of holy peace is more than that of penitence, because, 
although penitence implies a sorrow for sin, it does not 
necessarily imply a conquest over sin. It is more than 
good desire, because such desires are not acceptable in 
the sight of God without faith attending them. It is 
more than faith, because it is the end, of which faith is 
the means or instrument. It is more than gratitude, ' 
because it includes gratitude, as a whole includes a part. 
It is the result, the expression, the completion of the 
whole. It is man, harmonizing with God. It is God, 
dwelling and living in man. 

_ He, therefore, who is in true peace of spirit, is a con- 
tinual worshipper. He is himself his temple, and his 
heart is his altar. The fire is always burning; the — 
incense always ascends. 

8. It remains to be added, that God, in being restored 
to the human soul and made at peace with it, not only 
sets up his kingdom in man, but in other things with 
which man is essentially connected. When the kingdom 
of God is restored in the human heart, it is restored 
everywhere. It should not be forgotten, that the world, 
in all its varieties, is but one system; a connection obvi- 
ously running through all its parts; each part being 

ar + 


A384 DIVINE UNION. 


sustained by and harmonizing with the others. The 
mineral kingdom has a definite relation to the vegetable; 
the vegetable to the animal; the animal to the sentient; 
and the sentient to the moral. ‘They expand and devel- 
op themselves in progression, and with an infinity of 
ties and relations. They are parts of one great and har- 
monious system of arrangements, conceived by one per- 
fect wisdom, and sustained by one perfect love. ‘The 
completion of all is in man. He stands at the head, 
and if all are made for man, it is equally true that mar 
is made for all. 

Time and God’s grace will make this great truth better 
understood than it is at present. ‘There is no isolation 
in the universe, except what is made by sin. There isa 
true and noble sense in which Adam and all created 
things around him were one. ‘There is a sense in which 
Adam and all his posterity were one. ‘There is a sense 
in which Christ, the second Adam, and all his redeemed 
children are one. 

9. When man fell, nature fell. The flowers wept, 
and bowed their heads in sorrow. ‘The beasts and the 
birds, that once loved him, now fled away from him. 
And the reverse will be true, when man returns again. 
All nature, sympathizing with the restoration of its head, 
will wipe away its tears and put on its smiles, whenever 
man arises from the dust. Life will return; and beauty 
will return with life. The cessation of mental death 
will be crowned with the return of physical health and 
strength, which will be experienced in outward. nature 
as well as in man’s person. 'The curse of ‘thorns and 
thistles’’ will be revoked, because man, on whose account 
it was inflicted, will be restored to favor. ‘ Instead of 


the thorn shall come up the fir-tree, and instead of the 


brier shall come up the myrtle tree. The trees shall 


* 


THE SOUL’S REST IN UNION. 435 


clap their hands; and the hills and the mountains shall 
break forth into singing.” * 

Fear, also, shall be taken away from the beasts of the’ 
field. ‘The bond of union, beginning with man in his 
restoration to God, will extend everywhere. The infu- 
sion of love flowing from God to man will be felt in 
every part of creation. ‘The birds will sing with a hap- 
pier note. “'The wolf shall dwell with the lamb; and 
the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf 
and the young lion, and the fatling iogéttien' and a little 
child shall lead thes ida 


“See truth, love, and mercy in triumph descending, 
And nature all glowing in Eden’s first bloom; 
On the cold cheek of death smiles and roses are blending, 
And eeu immortal awakes from the tomb.” 


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